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After Nelson Mandela died, his widow, Graça Machel, had hoped for a time of peace and healing, but last year another tragedy struck. On October 17 – her 70th birthday – Machel received news from her home country, Mozambique, that her daughter Josina (40) had sustained serious injuries to her eye after she was allegedly battered by her partner, a Mozambican businessman.
Machel later learnt that her first-born child had lost vision permanently in her right eye.
“I have seen Madiba lying there suffering, going slowly ... and [after he died] I thought it was time for me to lick my wounds and be in peace, but this happened. I asked myself, ‘Why does it have to be us?’ There has to be a reason.”
South Africa’s former first lady and her daughter recounted their horrific experience to City Press this week. Giving Josina’s hand a gentle squeeze, Machel said: “I treasure and cherish my child. She is a precious gift ... She made me experience what motherhood is all about and I brought her up mostly on my own after her father [former president of Mozambique Samora Machel] died when she was only 10. Now someone thinks he can just raise a hand to her.
“Raising a hand against my child is one offence I do not think I can forgive anyone for,” Machel said.
She watched with great admiration as Josina told City Press that after the trauma she suffered, she was motivated to take action against gender-based violence by initiating an advocacy organisation, Kuhluka Movement.
“The organisation focuses on building and improving shelters for survivors of domestic violence,” said Josina, adding that despite her ordeal, she thought that what happened to her was probably meant to help her “understand exactly what other women are going through and do something about it”.
Josina’s approach to life has brought some comfort to her mother. “I am very proud of her. This whole thing is much bigger than her. It is good that she took the decision to talk about it,” she said.
“She could have just kept it to herself, but she summoned up the courage to say, ‘It happened to me.’ She has chosen to share her pain with millions of other women and say, ‘We have a life to live.’
“There are those who are keeping quiet, but Zina [as Machel fondly calls her] went out and said, ‘Let us talk about our pain and fight this scourge of gender violence.’”
Machel said she had not met the man who allegedly assaulted her daughter.
“Zina was very cautious and kept postponing every opportunity to introduce him to me ... I caught a glimpse of him once,” Machel said, adding that the attitude displayed by the alleged assailant was hurtful.
“He denies everything. He claims that Zina got injured after she fell, but even a doctor in Barcelona looked at her eye and said this was from a massive blow.
“I do not want to say he is a monster, but he is,” she said.
Josina said almost a year later, the man was yet to be tried in a Mozambican court, calling this “justice delayed”.
To add to her stress, she approached the Randburg Magistrates’ Court in Gauteng earlier this month, seeking a protection order after her alleged attacker started calling her.
“I felt as if I was being stalked and became fearful for my safety and that of my children,” said Josina.
“The only thing that can keep him away is the protection order. Three weeks later, I am still waiting without having received it.
“I have been to court three times already, and on Monday I spent at least four hours there with my mother, only to be told that the court was not convinced enough to grant me the protection order,” she said.
Machel reiterated her daughter’s disappointment. “Courts are failing women who are victims of gender violence. These cases are not treated with the sensitivity they deserve. The court told us there is not enough evidence and that he is a first-time offender.
“For us it sounds like the court is saying, ‘She has to get more beatings from this man before she can get any protection.’ It seems as if the justice system is saying, ‘Go back for more; get maimed and only then we can talk.’
“We are not doing all this in pursuit of special attention because Josina is Samora Machel’s daughter and Mandela’s stepdaughter; it is about many other women out there who are going through the same experience,” said Machel.
“I understand now why some women die while waiting for justice. They are sent back home without protection,” she said.
After undergoing this ordeal with her daughter, Machel said she understood why the unfortunate incident had “fallen on my family’s lap”.
“I am speaking for all daughters who have been through this ... It had to hit me in such a way that I had to reach all other daughters out there,” she said, adding that she would use every platform available to her to raise awareness of the challenges faced by victims of gender violence.
Machel is part of The Elders, a group of independent and venerable world leaders brought together by her late husband, Madiba. They include former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, former US president Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
