IOL - Winnie Madikizela Mandela Commemorative Digimag

Commemorative Edition to remember and honour Madikizela-Mandela on her 86th birthday.

Mummy

ZENANI N DLAMINI

I shared my mother with the world.

Our mummy, who showered us with love and affection, insisting on kissing us on arrival and departure, was also a courageous warrior who stood up daily against the apartheid regime.

I was happy to share her with every South African struggling to survive the brutality of a racist system which had thrown my father into jail for the rest of his life. I didn’t mind her giving so much time and energy to people who didn’t have the strength to stand up themselves; I was proud of her whenever she reminded the world that one day we would be free. I was happy to share her because I was raised in the atmosphere of her deep and unconditional love.

My mother was pregnant with me when she was detained for the first time in 1958 for joining a protest against the regime’s plan to force African women to carry passes, just like African men had suffered under for so long.

From my father’s arrest in 1962 she was hounded out of jobs and banned, house arrested, imprisoned, or banished for most of his 27 years in prison. My sister, Zindzi and I were shunted from school to school after the police found out where we had been enrolled, then pressurised them to make us leave.

With the love of her life locked up and silenced for more than a quarter of a century, my mother vowed never to give up fighting for freedom, not matter what sacrifices she had to make. I often wonder how she survived those dark decades, always with her head held high.

One of my most painful memories is how, as a child, I clung desperately to her as burly apartheid police kicked open our front door and ripped her away in the early hours of the morning. This happened, not once, but countless times through the decades. We didn’t know what would happen to her, where they were taking her or if she would ever come back to us.

On that occasion in 1969, my mother who had a heart condition was forbidden from taking her medication with her into what turned into 16 months of detention. I was 10 years old. While in solitary confinement, which saw her being interrogated for five days and six nights, she wrote: “The tender faces of small children, distorted by fear and drowsiness, seeing their dear mother escorted away in the dead of night, and unable to understand the issues involved is a memory that could haunt the most fearless mother”.

The late Professor Fatima Meer, a close friend of both my parents, described the origins of the regime’s harassment of my mother as: “The state wanted to rid itself of all Mandelas, so it followed the incarceration of Nelson with the banning of Winnie and thereby gave the world a second Mandela.

“In the beginning she was the victim of the state’s unquenchable vendetta against Nelson, but as she stood up to that vendetta and turned each attack to her advantage and their shame, she began to be persecuted for herself.”

Aunt Fatima said my mother “threw herself into political activity” but that “even if Winnie had chosen to stay clear of politics, the state would not have left her alone”. She described the regime’s “second-level attack” on my mother as “a sinister plan to destroy the Mandela’s by destroying Winnie’s reputation”.

We must never forget that the struggle was a war against an evil system armed with deep coffers, superior military might, and the will and the means to destroy its opponents. And it used them all. The fight for democracy and equal rights was not a polite picnic; people who committed to it got their hands dirty. If they had not done so we would not have won, we would not have had democracy and Nelson Mandela would not have been president. The vast majority of South Africa’s people would have forever remained as subjects and servants to a system that believed they did not have the right to be equal human beings.

Despite their own transgressions, so many people, particularly some of my mother’s male colleagues, have been lauded for their total contribution to the freedom struggle. She was not.

It sickens me that she is not acknowledged in the land of her birth, the land she helped to free from racist oppression; that she is revered throughout the world, but at home, some have chosen to write her out of our history. Vilified and ostracised, she struggled financially towards the end of her life. She survived through the kind support of a few family friends, whom I will not name, and who don’t expect to be named. At the same time, she would not allow her own family members to be without and would always find ways to help those in need.

In her last years, Mummy embarked on another struggle: to have the first home I ever knew, 8115 in Orlando West, Soweto, returned to the family. I am continuing that fight.

I have also made it my mission to continue to remind the world about her role and to educate younger generations about how, while bringing up two children, and despite the cost to herself, she kept the name of my father and his comrades in the hearts and minds of people around the world; to ensure they would not be forgotten.

As we mark the eighty-sixth year of my mother’s birth, I remember her for all that she went through to help bring freedom to South Africa. Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela-Mandela did not often express her pain, but I would like to leave you with these words from my beloved Mummy:

“Throughout the years of oppression, I think my feelings got blunted because you were so tortured that the pain reached a threshold where you could not feel pain anymore. If you keep pounding and pounding on the same spot the feeling dies, the nerves die.”

Hi Darling

HRH Zaziwe Manaway and HRH Zamaswazi Dlamini-Mandela

“Hi Darling, how are you?” are the words we will always miss hearing from you.

Big Mommy, the world felt so safe when you were here. Now you are no longer with us, nothing feels the same nor will it ever feel the same again. Losing you has been the most difficult experience we have ever gone through, and the loss of Aunty Zindzi two years later made your departure that much more difficult to bear.

Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was our grandmother, but she could also be our mother, a freedom fighter, and the Mother of the Nation, all at the same time. We called her “Big Mommy” – and while she was a beacon of hope to many across the world, at home she was the most loving and amazing grandmother anyone could ask for.

As we reflect and celebrate your 86th birthday, Big Mommy, we are so sad you won’t be here to watch the release of the documentary about your life we all worked on together.

But we are heartened that you knew about it and saw some of the early edits, and that you knew just how committed we are to ensuring that your name and those of the many other women of the freedom struggle are not forgotten.

As children, we don’t ever remember a time when our grandmother ever turned away anyone who would arrive at our homes in Soweto, first at 8115 Vilakazi Street and later at the house in Maseli Street we still call “Parliament”. She would always say, “Oh darling, how can I say no to anyone who comes to my gate?”

Our home was always filled with people. Everyone who arrived at our gate was always let into the house and was welcomed with a big hug and smile from Big Mommy. This confirmed to us what true selfless giving and sacrifice looks like.

Our childhood was filled with memories of you, Big Mommy, abundantly showering each and every one of us with deep love and protection. There was no other place where we felt safe, secure and protected. Even though our home was constantly raided by the apartheid police, firing teargas, kicking down the door and repeatedly arresting you, taking you away to be thrown in prison, there was no other place where we would have rather been but next to you. Our main concern was when you would be home again.

As a mother to our mothers, Zenani and Zindzi, we witnessed the unconditional love and unwavering affection you had for your daughters. Without granddad during the apartheid years, and after his release, you continued to be the father they never had. Your girls could do no wrong in your eyes.

We remember seeing the pain and suffering you, mom and aunty endured. But as always you would mask it, hide it with your big radiant smile. It pains us to see our mother now having to live her life without you.

In public you were a symbol of strength to your people and the country at large. Despite all the harassment and brutality inflicted upon you by the vicious

To My Great Grandmother in Heaven

Zenkosi Manaway

My Great Grandmother.

The best in the world who fought for South Africa. The mother of the nation. Winnie Madikizela bought you anything you can imagine and I loved her so much – and I know she loved me more!

I used to go there every Sunday for lunch in Parliament, but I used to cry my lungs on the way because it felt like it was 17 hours away! But when I got there and the door opened, I would run upstairs to your room to hug you and tell you I Love You.

Big Mommy I miss you calling me darling. I miss Sunday Lunch with you and then all the hugs you gave me.

apartheid regime, you stood firm, courageous and never wavered in your fight for the liberation of our country. Without you, Big Mommy, South Africa and the world would have forgotten about our grandfather and all the other political prisoners in jails throughout the country. In your own words, Big Mommy: “We don’t give a damn what the historians say.” This is a fact.

To us you were the model of what a loyal and devoted wife means. You never turned your back on your husband, despite the pain and suffering you endured for the loyalty and support you gave him. It pained and angered us in adulthood to see how the country, and some of your most trusted friends, betrayed you. It infuriated us when the same people who had deliberately hurt you would, in their hour of trouble and need, turn to you and seek your support, comfort and guidance which you gave without hesitation. You so easily and naturally forgave and soothed everyone else’s pain. Looking back on your life and how you lived by your principles, you truly exemplified what forgiveness means.

When asked what you would like your legacy to be, you would always say, “My children, my grandchildren and my great grandchildren”.

Thinking of you, Big Mommy, we are brought to our knees, filled with pride and gratitude that we had you as our grandmother.

Aahh’ Nobandla, aahh’ Nobandla, ahh’ Nobandla!

On behalf of Zenani and the family we would like to extend our sincerest gratitude and appreciation to Robert, his family, GUMA and Gijima Group for their invaluable support which enabled us to produce this Commemorative Supplement in honour of our mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.

Winnie Mandela: A Memoriam

Julius MaleMa EFF President and CIC

This day marks the birth of an exceptional and outstanding African Revolutionary, Winnie Nomzamo Mandela. Very few in modern struggles against colonial capitalist injustice have demon strated the defiant determination and fearlessness of comrade Win nie. Even fewer remained true to the radical nature of their ideals after the struggle like she did. it is a fact that Winnie Mandela faced imprisonment, brutal torture, banishment, isolation, and the violent assassination of her character by liberal and reactionary publications to the end of her days. Many who were hated by the white media establishment in the days of the struggle became sanitised when their days came to an end decades after apartheid. indeed, their images were resurrected and redeemed from brutal portrayals of their past, some even painted as saints. Yet, this positive reincarnation of imagery and narrative was never afforded to Mama Winnie Mandela. To the end of her days, the establishment hated her.

Of course, all of this hatred, sustained from her rise in the struggle up to her death, either sought to break or neutralise her commitment to a radical outcome of the struggle against white minority rule. Many who went through what she did, or even less, never passed this important test of holding on to the radical nature of their ideals to the end. Winnie Mandela, barring a household name only second in popularity to that of Nelson Mandela, remained true to radical total decolonisation.

To properly memorialise her, we need to firstly qualify the years of the anti-apartheid struggle after as the years of War. A war that became intensified in mid-1980s to the early 1990s when it was clear apartheid had to fall. This conception of our liberation struggle as a “war” is often marginalised in favour of a peaceful transition narrative that privileges “popular protests” as the mantra of internal resistance. Yet, what threatened the regime, in addition to these popular protests, was the massive distribution of arms, particularly in the 1980s; scores of armed blacks willing to kill for the liberation.

Within townships, particularly soweto, from the 1984/5 states of Emergencies that lasted for the rest of that decade, there was a war. A war the apartheid spatial planning and security forces contained within township areas. in those years, the apartheid military was a permanent presence on the streets, in rallies, funerals, as well as, and especially, schools. Detention without trial, mass imprisonment, torture and the killing of activists became the order of the day. Our people had to fight back and they did with guns, petrol bombs, and stones.

Apartheid had also evolved so that there were so many within the black townships partaking in its governing structures beyond the

Bantustans. Black town councils with black mayors, black police personnel and administrators, all of whom became targets of protests against the regime. This is why during the 1984 Vaal Uprising of september 3 alone, over five of these black councillors were killed. it is in this context that the life of Comrade Winnie must be located. she chose a side, commanded both underground units of MK and formed many of these self-Defence Units across the PWV areas. historically, this decade, 1980s, saw the formation of more armed units of resistance within the country than any other decade since 1960. Many of these units operated without much of central control or program and were largely self-trained and selfarmed, like Winnie Mandela.

We must also recall that her entrance in these theatres of military resistance was inaugurated by defiance of her banishment order to Brandfort. she left that isolated Free state township in 1985 and arrived in soweto, her home, as an apartheid fugitive to participate in this resistance war in favour of a radical overthrow of the regime. Needless to say, it is in this same year that the ANC official line to all its internal resistance forces was to render apartheid ungovernable. here, she would earn her iconic title of “mother of the nation” because, on several occasions she physically opened police

and military vans, freeing scores of youths arrested by apartheid security forces for demonstrating in protests. in addition, she majority of the self-defence units personably knew her because together with other leaders, she fearlessly formed them, distributed weapons and facilitated routes for many cadres to come in and out of the country.

The call for suspension of the armed struggle in favour of a peaceful negotiated outcome is precisely because there was a war, armed units, some formed personally by the revolutionaryWinnie Mandela. it is therefore instructive that even in her last days, when she insisted that the ANC conceded too much in those negotiations, she did so as one of those who had to personally disarm, including seeing this through into all other units that she personally formed and armed.

Many of us in the Economic Emancipation Movement see this uncompromising courage as central to the conduct of our own generational mission. We have sought to emulate her ability to speak truth to power and the courage to be consistent with the radical demands for total emancipation against all odds.

Already in our young days in COsAs when we marched for free education, bringing Africa’s richest city of Johannesburg to a standstill, it was Mama Winnie who stood with us when we got arrested.

Even when we were expelled from the liberation movement for the ideals of the Freedom Charter and formed the EFF, she was not hesitant to publicly pronounce “viva EFF”. Many leaders with her stature would never dare affirm the EFF in those terms. however, just like she used to be the only one in those war years who could say “viva ANC” in the presence of apartheid security forces, still she affirmed the EFF with no fear of the incumbent ANC comprador bourgeoisie.

This is because the aspirations for which Comrade Winnie Mandela fought have not been realised – ie the nationalisation of mines, banks and other strategic sectors of the economy. Most importantly, the ideal that “all shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose”.

Perhaps her refusal to engage in revisionism of these ideals is the reason the ANC patriarchal aristocrats refused her a fair democratic contest in their 1997 congress. Be that as it may, it will never erase the fact that none amongst them was equal to her popularity in that contest. Moreover, what cemented the hatred they had against her was when they refused her to address Peter Mokaba’s funeral service. This is despite the fact that she was President of ANC WL and therefore deserving of that role. however, at the same time, Mokaba was undoubtedly

her protégé.

When we protested her exclusion from the funeral programme, she privately told some of us to accept this out of organisational discipline. The irony though is that Bathabile Dlamini, who served as secretary General to mama Winnie at the time, accepted to replace her in the programme instead of standing in solidarity with her as a woman. The desperate careerism she displayed that day is testimony of how women unity and collective resistance against patriarchy continued to be undermined to this day.

Nevertheless, beyond those toxic congress corridors, Winnie Mandela’s heritage will eternally shine the brightest for young black girls across the ages. Because of her outstanding contribution and distinguished record in struggle, no one needs to travel to some ancient African civilisation or society for evidence that black women can be leaders, militant, fearless, educated, and still raise children all on their own. her life is a living testament against white supremacy and patriarchy combined- a testament that will surely multiply.

in her memory, we vow to continue the struggle, her struggle, for economic freedom in our lifetime and the total emancipation of all our people.

Long Live the undying spirit of Winnie Mandela, Long Live.

her funeral told out discipline. The Bathabile ecretary Winnie at replace instead with desperate that women resistance continued to those Winnie eternally black Because of contribution and struggle, some civilisation or black militant, raise her against patriarchy that will vow her freedom total people.

spirit of

‘A LASTING AND ENDURING FLAME’

Dr Tshepo MoTsepe Patron: WM Memorial NPC

This commemorate supplement marks and honours Mama Winnie 86th birthday.

Mama Winnie was not only a symbol, but a lasting and enduring flame of what the essence and meaning of our struggle for freedom and justice was about. she became the enduring symbol of our fight, our push for gender parity and equality in the face of gender disparity and imbalance. she became the veneer and the articulation of the Women’s Charter, drafted in April 1954.

Winnie never wavered from her responsibilities, duties and commitment to serve and represent her people she loved and cherished – and in the process the motivation inspiration for generations of women to come.

in keeping with the indomitable spirit of Mama Winnie, i am deeply humbled and honoured to be Patron of the WM Memorial NPC, whose raison d’être, purpose and aim is to honour, remember and keep alive the memory and legacy of Winnie MadikizelaMandela, affectionately known as the mother of the nation. her steadfast commitment to the people of south Africa, in

particular the marginalised, poor and forgotten, who she served unwaveringly, was never more evident and shown by the fact that she, following the defeat of apartheid, refused to leave soweto, wanting always to remain close and accessible to her people.

Though freedom and justice were obtained, Winnie recognised that her people still lived in economic poverty and were marginalised from the fruits of

emancipation, which denied them the very freedoms she and other women of the struggle so tirelessly, selflessly sacrificed to realise and secure.

sadly, as i reflect back on the past 28 years and the many positive strides we have made and achieved, we are still blighted by the scourge of gender-based violence, which remains and an all too visible scar on our new dispensation.

As an icon and champion of women’s rights and equality, Mama Winnie was always outspoken at the failure of government and civil society in addressing the ravages of gender-based violence and its psychological impact.

As this commemorative supplement pay’s homage to a wife, mother, housewife, breadwinner and political activist, i am reminded of my own mother, who demonstrated the same single-minded determination and commitment.

My mother was my rock, my North, south, East and West. My inspiration, my mentor who installed in me the very values, ideals, principles, passion and desire to succeed and accomplish regardless of the obstacles that lay before me as a women of colour.

Winnie was that immoveable rock that could not be shifted by the brutality, degradation and determination of the apartheid state to dehumanise her spirit which lay at the very core of her beliefs for social justice, freedom and equality for all. she was the guiding light, and her indominatable sprit of strength and fortitude was particularly evident during the dark days of apartheid oppression, repression and violence.

Winnie personified all that

was pure about our struggle for freedom, equality and justice –and in her pursuit of wanting to realise this, she never faltered from her dedication, commitment and single-mindedness to liberate south Africa and the majority of our people from the dehumanising shackles of apartheid.

sadly, 28 years into our new dispensation and democracy, the meaningful, valiant and significant contribution made by the women of struggle has yet to be recognised, acknowledged and memorialised.

Against this backdrop, the purpose of the WMMR programme is to preserve the memory, history and legacy of Winnie MadikizelaMandela and the many gallant women who played a critical role and contributed to the our freedom and democracy.

Therefore, my support for the WM Memorial NPC and the WMMR Programme, i hope will provide the extra boost it needs to ensure we preserve and protect the stories and contributions made by the women of struggle against apartheid. sadly, today our new struggle is the struggle against forgetting. We all have a responsibility and duty to safeguard and ensure the voices of the women of our struggle are not forgotten and remain in our minds, hearts and consciousness.

roberT GuMeDe

ThE mere mention of your name Mama Winnie ignites the chant ing sound of the erstwhile ANC Women’s League slogan: “Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo (You strike a woman, You strike a Rock)”

For many years within the borders of our country, you kept alive the flame of hope to defeat the injustice of apartheid, as you took the baton from all our leaders who were incarcerated and in exile. You were a servant leader away from cameras, deep in the heart of squatter camps.

indeed you were the Rock and Pillar that we all found refuge and support in. You led from the front, a fearless warrior.

Mama, you are truly the epitome of the meaning of the word “Mama” in its true sense, both during your life on earth and now in the afterlife. WE sALUTE YOU!

Your bravery over many years of struggle to stand up against the evil system of apartheid and its handlers, inspired us to be firm and resolute in our quest for liberation of our people in south Africa, but also inspired Mother Africa and its people to stand firm in believing that Africans can find African solutions for Africa.

Through your leadership, the enemy of the people at the time and many of its apartheid supporters globally used dirty tricks, out of fear of your leadership and power to unite all Africans, to slander your name and ridicule you as they feared you and your ability

to unite our people. Your people were, however, not deterred by these actions and continued the fight for liberation led by you. Your ever present leadership from the front inspired the nation.

Whilst to many you are revered as a liberation freedom fighter, i am constantly reminded about your huge heart, listening ear and wherever assistance is required, your action to assist. A very rare skill possessed by a select few, is the ability to listen, show empathy and act to assist.

You are that rare gem Mama, a social worker extraordinaire in the true sense of your calling. Our Mother of the entire African

Nation.

One of your biggest strengths was to always be amongst your people, to understand their pain, challenges and struggles and to work with them in finding solutions. This was clearly visible on each of our visits to your warm people’s home in the heart of soweto which was always full of your people. Your unwavering support of the downtrodden can never be questioned and many people can give testimony to that.

My memory is also filled with the many interactions we had and the trips and activities we undertook in our conquest to make our Mother Africa a better

place to live in for our people.

When called upon, you never once declined to give advice, assistance or lead. Through our many travels together, i noticed first hand the love and respect the people of Mother Africa had for you. They would be in awe to receive you, and addressed you at all times as Mama Africa – a true Mother of the African Nation.

During your time in south Africa, you were persecuted, tortured and removed from your role and position of being a fun-loving mother to your own children. Little did the apartheid government know that in giving you such sub-human treatment,

they were igniting the flame of liberation within you that inspired our nation to seek liberation in our lifetime. From Cape to Cairo – Mama, you are multiplying.

Mama, my family and i always knew that you were just a call away. Your unwavering support to my family is permanently etched in our hearts. You supported us during good times and sad times when we had lost loved ones.

We still remain humbled by your visits to our home in recent times, at a time when you were not feeling well. The time spent and engagement with my entire family will forever hold a special memory. My little kids to this day were not only inspired by your grandmother role to them but your unmatched beauty and regal dress sense is carved in their minds – the beautiful Grandmother.

Thank you for playing the mother role to us. Your advice and guidance continues to have a special place amongst us. Your love of the African child and belief in Mother Africa remains unmatched.

in this your 86th birthday month, we wish you eternal peace and we promise to keep your legacy alive for generations to come. Rest well Mama and continue being our inspiration and guiding Angel.

Mama, we did not lose you, but gained an Angel!

Please pass on our Love to Tata Madiba and sis Zindzi at dinner.

Love, Robert Matana, Dr P and our Gumede Family

he Dr haGe G GeinGob President of the Republic of Namibia

hAV i NG known Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela personally, i find it difficult to share a short tribute and reflec tions about a dear sister, an out standing anti-apartheid activist, a courageous prisoner of conscience, an affectionate mother and a freedom fighter par excellence. When we reflect about the life of Comrade Winnie, her personal history richly reminds us that it takes courage for a mother and a wife to chase after the ideal of a fair society. it reminds us that it takes exceptional ability for a freedom fighter and a prisoner of conscience to break barriers, to remain mobilised and not to be demoralised in the face of torture and harassment. it also reminds us that it takes extraor dinary determination to stand up against injustice and to stick to one’s convictions, especially in the face of brutality, imprisonment, personal adversity and the shadow of death. Comrade Winnie Madik izela-Mandela, a leading figure of the African National Congress, lovingly known as “Mother of the Nation” or Mama Winnie, is in the pantheon of Africans who demon strated exactly that extraordinary determination against injustice for others to be unchained from the shackles of oppression in order to enjoy freedom.

With untold commitment and perseverance, Comrade Winnie

rose against the established traditional roles of patriarchy at the time to become almost singularly the symbol of female resistance against the racist apartheid regime in south Africa. Mama Winnie could have chosen the traditional role of a housewife or the path of an ordinary citizen in soweto. she could have excelled as a social worker in Johannesburg, leading a normal life like others under those abnormal conditions of apartheid oppression. her destiny might have been different from the one of tumult, suffering and humiliation at the hands of the apartheid regime. however, on the 2nd of April, which marked the fourth anniversary of the passing of a steadfast woman with unbending

revolutionary zeal, we were poignantly reminded about the exceptional oeuvre of liberation and emancipation as imprinted in the legacy of Winnie MadikizelaMandela. Moreover, on the 26th of september 2022, which would have marked the 86th birthday of an icon of the struggles of the African people for freedom, we are once again reminded about the difficult path of a mother who used the majesty and compassion of motherhood fully in service of the liberation of others.

Comrade Winnie was majestic because she cared; she nurtured and she fought valiantly because of her own selfless commitment to the emancipation of the oppressed black people wherever they found themselves, in south

Africa, in Africa and the Diaspora. Therefore, we remember the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela as a south African anti-apartheid activist and perfect portrait of the African Liberation struggle, who led from the front – but also knew when to lead from behind as prisoner number 1323/69 in Brandfort. When the apartheid regime sought to silence Comrade Winnie through arrest under the notorious suppression of Terrorism Act and banishing her to 491 days in solitary confinement and torture, the quiet force, the resilience and determination of Comrade Winnie to fight apartheid remained unblemished. Throughout her countless arrests, harassment and banishment, Winnie had reached a point of no return, telling the apartheid regime, “You cannot intimidate people like me anymore”. These attributes of resilience made Comrade Winnie a peculiar trailblazer who inspired our own struggle in Namibia and mobilised other women, through her deeds, to join our struggle for liberation.

For us in sWAPO as a liberation movement, the history of our sister party, the African National Congress cannot be told without the history of Comrade Winnie as prisoner number 1323/69.

We therefore pause today in honour of the life of a fearless daughter and mother of the African soil, whose selfless actions elevated her to become a leading figure of our struggle for freedom in Africa.

As we continue to reflect on her legendary life, there is no doubt that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela fought fiercely against oppression, racism and imperialism. We are indeed comforted by the fact that she fought fiercely because as a mother, she loved and cared about the black oppressed people of south Africa and Africa at large.

Undoubtedly, it is difficult to pay a fitting tribute to Comrade Winnie as an expression of gratitude for her inspiring deeds. however, the Namibian Government has honoured her by naming one of the longest streets in the capital after Comrade Winnie. Earlier this year, Namibians posthumously celebrated her life of outstanding achievements by awarding Mama Winnie with the Most Brilliant Order of the sun, First Class, in recognition of her invaluable contributions to the liberation of Namibia and south Africa.

Four years on, into eternity we will ingrain and celebrate Comrade Madikizela-Mandela’s legacy of sacrifice, dedication and commitment. Current and future generations will continue to feel her presence as her love shines heaven’s light upon us. We will continue to preserve her memory as an icon of Africa’s liberation struggle.

Long live the memory of Comrade Winnie Mandela! May the revolu tionary soul of Mama Winnie con tinue to rest in eternal peace. Amandla!

leseDi Muhlari NOMZAMO MADIKIZELA MANDELA

PRIMARY SCHOOL LEARNER

iT is truly an honour to be given the opportunity to write about Mama Winnie.

Winnie Madikizela Mandela: born september 26, 1936 in the village of Mbongweni, Bizani, Transkei.

As a young girl, her family moved around a lot because of her father’s work.

Full of strength, she passed her primary school years with distinctions, completed her matric at Qumbu and obtained her degree in social Work in 1955.

i speak so highly about her education because it is a dream that i hope to achieve. Despite my circumstances, i hope to move through the challenges that life has to offer, as she did hers and finish school with distinctions.

i n 1953, she moved to Johannesburg and it was only then that she saw the ugly side

of apartheid, every day. This was enough motivation for her interest in national politics. Growing up as a young black girl with so many things pushing against me –poverty, high unemployment rate, lack of resources – i can only wish to be given the strength she had to fight. Fight for my nation, for my family, but most importantly, for myself. To free myself from the invisible chains that hold me back.

Mama Winnie you give me hope.

There’s a quote i absolutely cherish from Mama Winnie that says: “Preventing the conflicts of tomorrow means changing the mindset of the youth today.”

Being in a school named after you Mama, Nomzamo Madikizela Mandela Primary school, i pledge to carry your legacy – to live up to

your standards, to be a product of my nation, my people, and to remember where i come from. i pledge to keep the dream alive, blind myself from any drugs, conflicts and all things that could deter me from reaching my goal. i pledge to be a changed youth of Nomzamo.

Thank you for being iMBOKODO. You have shaped and inspired many girls in our school.

Ours is to ensure that your legacy lives on. We will continue to celebrate you, from the moment we rise to our last breath. Like a phoenix, we will rise as you did, many times, when the system was against you.

Realeboga Mama. h appy birthday. You are forever in our hearts.

Winnie

Dr nM phosa

i WAs born in Mbombela Town ship in the then Eastern Transvaal (currently Mpumalanga Province) but spent most of my formative years in Pollen, in Limpopo Prov ince. Mbombela and Pollen are far from where Winnie Madikize la-Mandela was born in idutywa in the former Transkei and where she lived most of her adult life in Orlando West, in soweto. i first heard about Winnie when i was still at higher primary school in 1964. This was after Nelson Mandela, Winnie’s husband, and his comrades had been sentenced to life imprisonment following the Rivonia trial. One day my former teacher asked me what i wanted to be after i had completed my schooling. i proudly said i wanted to be a lawyer. he retorted disappointedly, “Ah, you want to be like Mandela. You’re going to get arrested and leave your wife alone”.

After completing my high school studies at MaripiOrhovelani in Bushbuckridge, i enrolled at the University of the North, affectionately known as Turfloop University, to study law. That is where i really began to actively participate in opposition politics. i joined the south African students’ Organisation (sAsO), a black consciousness-oriented student body, there. While studying and being involved in student politics on campus, i also had to earn a living to sustain myself and to help my mother who was living in the Eastern Transvaal. My father, who was a teacher, had passed on in 1970 and this made it difficult for my mother to support me, and my siblings, financially.

One of the various ways i used to earn some money was to sell the colliers encyclopeadia in soweto during the university’s recess. i would walk the streets of soweto, moving from house to house. One day as i was selling, i walked into a house in Orlando West. As usual, i did not know whose house it was. i found a gentleman who introduced himself as Nzima. As i walked inside the house, i saw the picture of Nelson Mandela hanging on the wall. Whispering, i asked Nzima “What are you doing with Mandela’s picture?” he looked at me and responded “This is Winnie Mandela’s house”. surprised but also excited, i enquired “Where is she?” Nzima said she’s in Brandfort. in 1977 the National Party government banished Winnie to Brandfort, a small Afrikaner-dominated town in the then Orange Free state

(currently Free state Province), hoping to frustrate her political activism and force her into docility. The government had clearly undermined Winnie. she continued where she had left off while in soweto. she conscientised the residents of Phathakahle Township, in Brandfort. They began to defy the racist behaviour practiced by the local whites in town, which black people had come to accept as normal. in August 1985 she defied the government and returned to her house in soweto, where she carried on with the struggle for liberation. i was in exile in Mozambique then – and from the mid-1980s we worked together carrying out underground work for the ANC.

After taking over as the regional commander of uMkhonto we sizwe, the ANC’s military wing, in Mozambique, my unit worked very closely with Winnie. she became our servicing point. she was a very reliable support structure. she took many risks for the struggle with her life, irrespective of the constant arrests and loss of contact with her own children. she was a soldier through and through. And no one could remove her from that idea of being a soldier. in all the years i worked with Winnie, i don’t remember one casualty

in her hands from the people we sent to her. i remember saying that Mama [Albertina] sisulu was hiding freedom fighters behind her womb. i think i can say that about Winnie too. she hid many freedom fighters behind her womb.

in 1993, after the ANC had been unbanned, i once again observed Winnie’s instinct to protect those whom she trusted and worked with. her driver got involved in a shootout with a pedestrian at the flea market. As part of the ANC’s legal department, i was requested to intervene. i went to the Brixton Police station to find out what had happened. The police were looking for the weapon used during the shootout. i went to soweto to talk to Winnie. i asked her: “where is the weapon?” she looked at me and said “i threw it in the river. soze bas’fumane (they’ll never find it)”. i think she was bluffing, but she had hidden it somewhere. if the police could have found that weapon, they could have used it as damning evidence against her driver – and her. she trusted me with such sensitive information. The press was satisfied with my explanation, because i had been to the police station and had spoken to Winnie as well.

Winnie always exhibited an iron will demeanor in public,

but she was a soft-hearted loving mother. she loved her children, grandchildren and the disadvantaged people. she was a social worker par excellence. she was always the first than any ANC leader at the site of crisis in society. Winnie was also very supportive. in 1994 when i was campaigning for the ANC, Winnie chose to come and occupy a platform with me when i delivered my first manifesto for the ANC in Mpumalanga. she was the guest speaker. she said “i’ve come here to endorse my son! My comrade; comrade Phosa. i trust he’ll run this province very well”. she chose to come and speak there because of the relationship we shared. she didn’t go to any rally of the other ANC premier candidates. Again, i felt her motherly love when i was hospitalized in 1998 after i had been involved in a car accident, which left me with a badly injured leg. While in hospital, Winnie visited me and sat on my hospital bed. i remember her asking me questions about the accident: “What happened? Are you sure it is not political?”

i think one of the best traits

Winnie possessed was the ability to understand military struggle and political struggle. she had an uncanny ability to combine

the two very well, and to know when to use each effectively. her comprehension of political struggle made Winnie an ANC member par excellence. Even when she did not agree with certain policy positions, once the ANC had taken a position, she supported it unconditionally. i can still remember that after she was appointed the Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture, she took the post seriously. And i cannot remember a story of corruption in that department during her tenure. she ran it with dedication and served it with the same energy she served the armed struggle. she was a very loyal public servant. i used to visit her in her office and did not believe that she had accepted a deputy minister position. But she did not demand to be a minister. she never asked to be more than a deputy minister. i think she was happy to serve even though she was deputy to some junior comrades.

The Winnie i knew was a “weapons” person, a soldier, a fearless underground operative prepared to fight the National Party government ‘till the end. But when the time came to reconstruct south Africa, post-apartheid, she was prepared to serve the downtrodden with the same energy she had exhibited during the liberation struggle.

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‘A Home without Walls’ online exhibit

For many years we have wanted to tell the world, espe cially fellow South Africans, about our family, and particu larly about our grandmother, Zanyiwe Winifred Nomzamo Nobandla Madikizela.

While she was affectionately

known as “Mam’Winnie” by many of her supporters; we, her children and grandchildren, called her “Big Mommy” or “Mami”, which sums up who she was for us.

An upcoming virtual exhibit will provide an intimate portrait

of our grandmother. It will give you, the visitor an opportunity to peer through the windows of her home in Maseli Street, orlando West, where precious memories were formed and where daily life continued away from the glare of the media.

The house, where she lived from 1990 until her passing, will one day become the Winnie Mandela Memorial Centre.

our memories and insider’s account of the Mandela family, together with Big Mommy’s archive (handwritten notes,

letters, speeches, her personal diaries, her awards, photographs from her personal albums), all form a unique picture of her as a mother and granny.

We look forward to sharing this intimate portrait with you early next year.

On behalf of Zenani and the family we would like to extend our sincerest gratitude and appreciation to Robert, his family, GUMA and Gijima Group for their invaluable support which enabled us to produce this Commemorative Supplement in honour of our mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.

The Winnie Mandela I knew …

NOLITHA FAKUDE

Happy birthday Mama…

A woman I consider to be my Mother, my Mentor and Role Model would have turned 86 today.

I was introduced to this amazing giant in 1994, when I had the immense privilege of hosting her in my home in Cape Town. As a young woman of 30 with a family and a career, that meeting became a turning point in my young life. Reflecting back 29 years later to those few months that we shared with her, I am humbled that I got an opportunity to share “space“ with this colossus woman of the stature of Harriet Tubman (American social activist who rescued and freed enslaved people) and our own Charlotte Maxeke, who led with wisdom.

Regardless of how tough times were for her since the 60s, Mama chose to stay inside the ring and fight, speaking truth to power despite the consequences. That was her life. And as a result, even at the dawn of our democracy in 1994, those close to her still felt that she needed to be accommodated in a “safe house”. Hence, our young family found ourselves with this responsibility and privilege to be with the Mother of the nation.

A social worker by profession and royalty by birth, Mama’s strength and power came from the fact that she lived, ate and worked with ordinary people. As a leader, she engaged with kings, queens and heads of state without losing her anchoring and values of social solidarity with the grassroots people. She was recognised by many communities in South Africa, many choosing to name their informal settlements with her name, long before 1994. However, ironically, post democracy political dynamics made it difficult, and in fact impossible, to have even a major road or national institution named after her. In spite of this, her legacy still lives beyond her life through the millions of people who she touched during her life of struggle.

Mama genuinely loved and deeply cared for people. Every conversation would end with, “but what can we do for our people, surely there is more that we can do”. As a young leader, this shaped my thinking with every professional responsibility I was given.

Mama’s forthright and honest way of engaging made us all feel a little bit braver and courageous when faced with tough situations in boardrooms. She often would remind me the few times I would see her, “Nkosazana, remember you are now part of them, they, the decision makers, so please, make it count” – and then she would burst out laughing with a twinkle in her eye knowing that she was planting a seed.

When Mama Winnie Mandela was faced with life threatening situations like bullets, banishment and imprisonment, she still stood her ground and spoke her truth. Her courage and that of many other women of her generation, including those who marched

to the Union buildings in 1956, showed our generation that no freedoms are won without the courage to act.

As the Sotho saying goes “Mme utswara thipha kabu haling” (a mother will hold the sharp end of the knife to protect her children).

Mama Winnie’s life example inspires us to grasp the nettle for societal challenges that we face today. The scourge of gender-based violence and domestic violence, among others that women face today, would have been one of those our dear mother would have urged us to forge ahead to resolve – not only for our sake but for the sake of the next generation. Whether in the communities, in schools or in the workplace, this plague of GBV requires us all to courageously speak out and act with urgency to root it out

of society. One of the tools is going to have to be the economic emancipation and empowerment for women. To economically empower a woman is to save them from possible sexual harassment and abuse. As complex as the issues are behind why we have such high proportions of GBV in our country, we also know that economic dependence and vulnerability of women makes them even more susceptible to abuse.

In the mining industry, with a legacy and perception of being a “no go area” for women (women were only legally allowed to work underground in 1996), we are now challenged everyday as to how we can attract and retain more women talent in our organisations. How we can change and turnaround the culture that

exists in the industry to ensure that it is safe and empowering women to unlock their talents, is an opportunity we have as leaders. We dare not fail Mama. Dealing with long-held negative norms and stereotypes is going to require us all to adopt a zero tolerance for bullying, harassment, especially sexual harassment, and genderbased violence inside and outside the factory gates.

Mama Winnie’s life example of being resolute and resilient until the end has taught us to stay “inside the ring and stay in the game” so as to be able to keep fighting and claim your voice and space. I once asked Mama naively, why don’t you just leave it alone? And her retort was, “it’s better to be inside the tent than outside –then you can play”.

She was so right. We need more

warriors inside the boardrooms, especially in the private sector boardrooms; women who will be courageous enough to stand up and say, “Not under my watch”!

I am encouraged to see so many women leaders in mining – not only emerging, but already making a difference in their own chosen careers. Out of the top 40 JSE listed companies, there are less than seven women CEOs, and three of those are from the mining sector. These women are leading with their hearts and heads in what was, and still is dominated by men – and that takes courage, just like Mama had. The road ahead is long, however, more women are choosing this industry as a career; we dare not fail them.

Happy heavenly birthday Mangutyana!

NOMVULA MEMBER

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A tribute to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

NOMVULA MOKONYANE

MEMBER OF ANC NEC & NWC

On Monday, the 26th September 2022, we will mark what would have been the 86th birthday of one of the icons of our strug gle, Winnie nomzamo Zanyiwe Madikize la-Mandela, affectionately known as Mam’ Winnie.

Mam’ Winnie was many things wrapped into one – a mother to many, a neighbour next door, a revolutionary, a leader, a gender and political activist as well as a woman of faith.

A glimpse at your pictures taken over the years depicts a cocktail of a life of many contradictions morphed into the determined triumph of the human spirit. These images depict your life as per your journey and experience – full of cheerfulness and joy on the one hand; anguish, pain and sadness on the other. The common denominator of what the pictures depict is that you had an unmatched sense of love for your people, country and movement.

The trajectory of your life can only be described as a mirror image of what your own people had gone through, experienced and conquered over the brutal systems of colonialism and later apartheid.

Mam’ Winnie, you were true to your own conscience, and by your own actions and deeds you confirmed to all of us that one cannot conquer what you do not confront.

You survived the worst that the system heaved upon freedom fighters. House arrest, detention without trial, solitary confinement and everything that the enemy could employ to destroy your soul and dampen your spirit. Alas, they failed dismally.

The enemy did not understand that the brutality meted out against your people instead worked to stir them on and became a clarion call toward their fight for freedom and emancipation.

When you left Brandfort, where apartheid had banished you and had hoped to silence you forever, you arrived in Kagiso and Munsieville with your most defiant fervour and you agitated the masses of the West Rand with such revolutionary zeal towards mass action and self-defence. It was the kind of push and support we had been yearning for.

In you, we saw a mother, a leader, a revolutionary and above all, a Freedom Fighter! You gave us hope at a time when we needed it most. Your unbreakable fighting spirit, messages and action inspired us to without fear, heed the call of President OR Tambo and to dedicate our mass support and action towards rendering “apartheid unworkable and South Africa ungovernable”.

As the brutality of the apartheid state increased with great intensity, so did your own vigour to confront it. It is during these moments which are forever etched on our minds, that you, at the Pentecostal Church in Munsieville, addressed us and made the now famous and widely captured call that “we have no bullets, we have no guns. With our three (3) cents matches we will defend ourselves”.

Mam’ Winnie, you were the epitome of a true revolutionary – always humble, selfless, inspirational, and dedicated. You had an incredible sense of hope, notwithstanding life’s daily challenges that confronted your inner soul. You were often shaken, but found still standing at all times.

Having been perpetually harassed, persecuted and victimised made you to forever be vigilant and to defend yourself in a manner that sometimes forced you to be defiant and dismissive, even against those that meant well.

Some came close to you, taking advantage of your pain, popularity and

bravery for their own personal and selfish interests. It caused you great pain and frustration, but because of who you were nomzamo, you were never to be a victim and would always come to realise it and extend a hand of comradeship once again.

Watching you through those difficult times planted many seeds in us and across many generations of the revolution. In you we saw a soldier, a warrior and a commander of the ground forces. Forever with and amongst us!

Mam’ Winnie in whatever you did, you gained strength through perseverance. You took courage in every crisis moment. You were never moved by your own circumstances and tribulations, but more by your belief and hope for the dawn of a new South Africa.

Mam’ Winnie, the communities of Soweto, Mamelodi, including Phola Park, Winnie Mandela and many other townships and informal settlements can attest to your motherly and sheltering hands, amidst the apartheid regime’s instigated violence between the hostel-dwellers and the people in the townships.

At the height of CODESA and the heightened apartheid-sponsored black on black violence, yourself and MaSisulu led a protest that led to all of us being detained at the John Vorster Police Station.

Cde Madiba and other leaders had to come meet us at the police station and hear our demands before we agreed to be released. Our demand as women and young people of the then PWV was that those in CODESA cannot continue with talks in Kempton Park without addressing the apartheid-sponsored black on black violence.

Comrade Chris Hani supported our action of defiance and Cde Ronnie Kasrils worked with us on the ground to build Self Defense Units to protect the people. Mama, you were undoubtedly one of

the most fervent supporters and organizers of SDUs.

As the mother of the nation, you were always modest, awe-inspiring and forever astute, albeit unobtrusive. Mam’ Winnie, you have undoubtedly earned your stripes to be called mother of the nation; not as a tag or nomenclature, but as something that encapsulated and expressed your dedication to the cause of the poor, the dispossessed, the vulnerable and those who suffered need.

To many of us, you were and still remain our mother, albeit that the apartheid regime denied you the opportunity to be a wife and mother to your own husband and children, respectively.

In the midst of being Mrs Mandela, you also built you own identity as Winnie Mandela – a symbol of defiance and resistance.

Only those close to you knew that in your beauty, your warm smile and in your strong character, there was also a woman carrying pain that only the toughest and most resolute could survive. Pain for the AnC Women’s League, pain for the AnC, pain for communities, individuals, pain for yourself and your children, our sisters, Zenani and Zindzi.

Yet you Mama, with all that pain, had immense love for everyone and a forgiving heart.

In your own right and style you led and accepted to be led. Your leadership qualities were often tested and doubted by some, and in many instances you would ultimately put the AnC first.

Celebrating your birthday has always been about sharing and giving back. This is how you celebrated with the senior citizens of Orlando West.

Indeed, about the conditions you endured, this is what you said in your own word:

“The years of imprisonment hardened me. Perhaps if you have been given a

moment to hold back and wait for the next blow, your emotions wouldn’t be blunted as they have been in my case.

When it happens every day of your life, when that pain becomes a way of life, I no longer have the emotion of fear. There is no longer anything I can fear. There is nothing the government has not done to me. There isn’t any pain I haven’t known.”

Mam’ Winnie, your spirit beckons us all to catch the moment, seize the day; to capture the moment of your heart and the benefit of your pain. You remain one of the two nominated female candidates for the position of AnC President that we never had. Worse with you, because you were deliberately made not to accept your nomination. To date, we can boldly say Winnie Mandela, an AnC Presidential nominee!

As we mark your 86th birthday and remember you, we know that your voice, which instilled fear within the ranks of the apartheid state apparatus, shall remain a clarion call to all of us, young and old, urban and rural, black and white, to continue in your arduous journey of nation-building towards a truly democratic, non-sexist and non-racial South Africa.

We will forever remember you as mother of the nation; forever remember you for your courage, tenacity, sacrifices, resolve and fortitude to fight for the freedom of women, youth and the vulnerable; yes, the freedom of the nation.

To you nomzamo Zanyiwe Winniefred Madikizela-Mandela we say, Happy Heavenly Birthday.

To you, Commander yamaForces we say, miniemnandi.

To you, Cde President Winnie Madikizela-Mandela we say, a Happy Revolutionary Birthday!

To you Mama, we say, we shall forever cherish your memories, love and teachings – Happy Birthday!

WiNNiE Madikizela-Mandela was an icon in life. she remains an icon in death. her legacy should burn bright not just in south Africa, but across Africa and indeed the world wherever there is injustice. The trag edy for us all is that she will always be seen as a counterpoint to her former husband, Nelson Mandela.

Those who had the privilege of knowing Mama, know that Winnie MadikizelaMandela was never secondary nor subordinate to anyone in her entire life. she paid an incredible price, all on her own with her two girls Zenani and Zindzi, during the toughest moments in the struggle against apartheid. There is a tendency in some quarters to forget that, just as there is an inclination to perversely minimise the plight of a single mother bearing the full wrath of an entire state machinery – in all its various odious and cruel manifestations – while her husband and comrades were locked up in their island exile in Robben island.

in some respect, Winnie MadikizelaMandela voice has been silenced and marginalised along with other female activists. her legacy has been in danger of both being forgotten, and deliberately airbrushed from the new narratives of the past. We must fight against forgetting. We do this by actively remembering.

i have had the privilege of personally getting to know some of the key players in south Africa’s transition – on all sides of the divide. The more i learnt of the untold stories, the more i realised that we had to capture them in the very words of the people who lived on the frontlines and at the negotiating table, while they were still around.

My journey in this process was crystallised with the establishment of the African Oral history Archive, a key pillar of my Foundation’s programmes. For over a decade, the African Oral history Archive has recorded the first-hand testimonies of those who have been instrumental in shaping

south Africa’s modern history. Our obligation is not merely altruistic, because in remembering lies our greatest hope of preventing the crime against humanity that occurred from ever happening again. This is why archives are so important – not only to historians,

but to all citizens concerned about truth, accountability and social justice. We do this to honour those heroes who challenge the overwhelming patriarchy that continues to render women subordinate in society.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela simply has

no substitute. so much so that one finds it impossible to imagine the trajectory of modern south African history without her influence. Like all great people – especially leaders – she was also a person of many parts, some of which contradicted the good for which she was beloved, but equally were an unshakeable part of who she was. What many call “Winnie’s imperfections” are the endearing attributes that make her accessible, human and revolutionary.

it is just another reason why, when Winnie Madikizela-Mandela approached my Foundation with a request to assist in the archiving of her life story, we assigned south African Emmy award-winning director, Mandy Jacobson to literally follow her around with a camera for five years right up to her death, to record her story for posterity.

The result is the seven-part seven-hour series, The Trials of Winnie Mandela, soon to be released across the globe.

This is the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela we have held in our hearts, have longed for and have been waiting to hear from.

The ichikowitz Family Foundation has pleasure in presenting this original material as a gift to the nation and for the benefit of future generations.

Now with the launch of her own foundation, by her descendants, it is our privilege to continue to be a part of this process, for the very same reasons that we filmed her and indeed that we established our foundation.

it is right and proper that we remember Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, truly the mother of the nation. This was my promise to Mama Winnie and one that i am very grateful that we have been able to keep.

Ivor Ichikowitz is a South African born industrialist and philanthropist. He is the chair of the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, which produced the documentary series, The Trials of Winnie Mandela, soon to be released worldwide.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela with ivor ichikowitz (soweto 2015).