It's worthy to start with Mama Winnie Madikizela Mandela. No woman endured suffering and humiliation at the hands of the white man in modern history like Mama Mandela. She was born in Bizana, in the Transkei on 26 September 1936. Her first experience of the cruelties and injustices of racism/apartheid was when she was only 9 years.
After the Second World War had ended, and celebrations had been scheduled at the Bizana Town Hall. Only to find out that these celebrations were just for "whites only." Being very intelligent girl, she matriculated with distinctions and earned a place in the Jan Hofmeyr School of Social Work in Johannesburg, and passed at the top of the class. She was offered a scholarship to study in the U.S. But chose to remain in the country. She was offered a post as the medical social worker at the Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg, making her the first African to qualify...
She was 22 years old, when she met Nelson Mandela and they later married in 1958. In the year, she took part in a protest against inhumane pass laws. The pregnant Winnie's commitment to African people only intensified, but this worried the national security and was considered a great danger independent of her husband. As a result, she was fired from her job. Their marriage was hard, because life of a revolutionary was under state surveillance. In 1962, she was given a banning order and marked increased police harrassment and aggressive raids on her house.
She made a few remarks concerning the vicious raids:
“…that midnight knock when all about you is quiet. It means those blinding torches shone simultaneously through every window of your house before the door is kicked open. It means the exclusive right the security branch have to read each and every letter in the house. It means paging through each and every book on your shelves, lifting carpets, looking under beds, lifting sleeping children from
Being isolated from Nelson, she suffered betrayed her secrets to the segregationist state. After Nelson Mandela's imprisonment in Robben island, she was only allowed to meet just for 30 minutes and only communicate in English and Afrikaans. In the following years, she was vigorously harrassed by apartheid war criminals. Prime Minister John Vorster ’s1967 Terrorism Act, No 83, meant that anyone could be arrested without warrant and detained in solitary confinement for any period of time. During this time, she was brutally tortured by the police trying to break her will and give them information about the ANC activities. After her release, she was also given a banishment. It is reported that she established a local gardening collective; a soup kitchen; a mobile health unit; a day care centre; an organisation for orphans and juvenile delinquents and a sewing club. In the 80's, the whole world was calling for Nelson Mandela's release from prison. However, something strange occurred during this time:
“In the worldwind of events following Mandela’s release from prison and the start of negotiations designed to ensure a peaceful transition rather than a bloodbath in South Africa…no one bothered to find out what Winnie needed and wanted, how her life had changed or what her aspirations might be… From the moment she was implicated in the serious crimes involving the football club, it was as though her entire past had been erased from the public mind."
Sadly, the couple divorced in 1996, which I believe was a political move to isolate Mandela from his powerful revolutionary wife. Mama Winnie served her people exceptionally well and made a lot of sacrifices which cannot be repaid. Halala Qobokazana! Imbokodo! Mama Afrika!
References:
1. http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/winnie-madikizela-mandela
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