Publications
Partners
OMHLE NTSHILINGA (24)
The first time I read 491 Days, written by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, was in 2014. I was 20 and had just started a new journey on the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) at Wits University. Little did I know these chapters would help me through a difficult two-year journey of navigating as a black woman in the student political space.
Resilience was a characteristic Mam’ Winnie personified, and one had to be resilient during #FeesMustFall, with not only the government and society, but also your own comrades. Her dedication to the marginalised of South Africa under apartheid stood out because, in spite of being tormented, tortured and isolated, she remained strong, remembering why she was fighting, and she continued until her last breath.
The beauty of the Mother of the Nation was not only evident outwardly, but was also found in the way she related to women throughout her life. She surrounded herself with Albertina Sisulu, Brigalia Bam, Victoria Mxenge and others.
They kept her humble while assisting her strategically in fighting the system.
Through this collective she grew as an individual and a leader, and tapped into the plights of many women from different walks of life, which motivated them to help strengthen efforts to bring apartheid to a halt. This shows we cannot work towards our common goals in isolation, a lesson I have taken to heart.
In the democratic South Africa, she took a decision to remain where her people were – Soweto. For me this symbolises that she did not want to be disconnected from the struggles of the nation, but rather develop in tandem with the marginalised of South Africa.
Mama never dedicated herself to the politics of air-conditioned boardrooms and was always found in the thick of the fight against poverty. As a struggle stalwart she understood the need to liberate her neighbours in order to liberate the nation.
Young women must take practical lessons of emancipation from Mama’s life. She was selfless, intentional, resilient, loving, a great team player and a shepherd for many in the political wilderness.
Her life is a testament of strength in the fight for freedom, empowering young women like myself to continue tackling the challenging socioeconomic issues of our nation, continent and the world.
Long live the spirit of Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Long live.
Ntshingila is an author, Wits student and former SRC/FMF leader
TINTSWALO MANGANYI (50)
The first time I heard Mama’s name was when I was a little girl in the Eastern Cape, and it was in awed whispers that her name was spoken.
The grown-ups would cry silently with a quiet dignity and whispers of “oh shame”. I knew every time I heard Mama’s name mentioned, there would invariably be an “amandla” somewhere. And a raised fist somewhere else. I longed to know this woman who was such a mystery. I wanted to be that mystery.
Years later I met her daughter Zindzi when they lived opposite my uncle’s house in Orlando, and she spoke boldly of her mother. I wanted to know more. I would sniff the smell of the house very deeply and imagine myself breathing in her essence. As Zindzi spoke, I would sit on her bed and look around, trying to imagine how Mama walked around in that four-roomed house.
The kitchen, a hazy memory now, felt like my granny’s – warm and welcoming. I hardly heard what Zindzi was saying. I was engulfed in this beautiful woman’s absent presence. I started finding any number of excuses to walk into their home. It felt like my home.
It was in this house that I started understanding what ANC truly meant. I felt part of something really big. I wanted to stay in this bigness. It was in Mama’s house that I started understanding the seriousness of the slogan “Freedom in our lifetime”. We had to be willing to do whatever it took to be free.
I would tremble with excitement hearing about Mama’s beauty regime; allegedly water and Vaseline. I used water and Vaseline on my face for the longest time, wanting that near impossible beauty.
Years later I recognise that her beauty had nothing to do with a beauty regime. It had everything to do with being love, with being woman, with being power. I could feel her.
Manganyi is an addictions recovery coach and counsellor, and writer
AUDREY BROWN (53)
She was subjected to name-calling of the best and the worst kind. From Mother of the Nation through Queen of Harlem to Mugger of the Nation.
But to me, a child brought up in a culture where calling an adult by their name without an honorific is taboo, there was a thrill attached to hearing everybody call her Winnie. uWinnie.
That name said in a multitude of tones expressing love or loathing, fear or admiration and respect.
In my family, she was often referred to in coded language as activist uncles and aunts spoke about what she had done, what had been done to her.
They inevitably broke their own code at the end of the recounting by saying her name – with love or admiration and sometimes, in later years, anger.
Her name now resounds as a woman who stood fully and firmly as herself, for herself and at the worst times, by herself. uWinnie, said with respect as I bow my head at her passing.
Brown is a BBC Africa broadcast journalist
