The EFF said it will continue to mourn the death and celebrate the undying revolutionary spirit of anti-apartheid activist and politician Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Today would have been Madikizela-Mandela’s 86th birthday. She was known as a freedom fighter, social worker, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and a woman of faith.
Madikizela-Mandela, who was born in rural Eastern Cape, in Mbizana, Pondoland, passed away on April 2 2016, at the age of 81.
At only 17-years-old Madikizela-Mandela became a student at the Jan Hofmeyr School of Social Work whose students included icons such as Ellen Kuzwayo and Gibson Kente.
She was a dedicated student receiving the top marks in school. She completed her studies in 1955 becoming the first black social worker in South Africa.
Madikizela-Mandela did her practical work for her course at Baragwanath Hospital at the age of 19.
She was often criticised for not being neutral enough in the work environment and her seniors said she “worries so much about people ... much more than about herself”.
EFF spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys said Madikizela-Mandela was a fiercely intelligent woman who valued education and did not stop at a single qualification, she completed a bachelor of arts degree in international relations at Wits University – a degree she began in 1967 and would only graduate three decades later due to apartheid harassment.
She persisted with her studies and officially graduated in 2005 because in her words, she needed to “inspire my grandchildren”.
“Mama Madikizela-Mandela led in making education fashionable,” Mathys said..
Prisoner number 1323/69, Madikizela-Mandela, was in and out of prisons from her first detainment in 1958.
She was detained even while she was five months’ pregnant with her first daughter Zenani born in 1959.
Mathys said in her lifetime Madikizela-Mandela was arrested, banned, spent 16 months in detention, faced numerous trials, and was banished far from her home and loved ones to Brandfort in the Free State.
She was held in solitary confinement, tortured, and interrogated continuously without breaks for days by apartheid security police and suffered a heart condition.
At one time she served 491 days in prison. In 1976, as students were fighting the racist apartheid and colonial education policies, she was among those who sheltered, picked up the bodies and comforted their families. Political parties were banned in South Africa.
“We detail these horrific injustices not to glorify her suffering, nor perpetuate Madikizela-Mandela did not question and diminish her sense of self-worth even when the apartheid system, white capital, the white media propaganda machine, and her own comrades in the ANC tried to break her down.
“Mama Winnie, the freedom fighter paid the highest price for the Struggle for the freedom of South Africa. It is for these reasons that on this day, the EFF unveiled its headquarters as Winnie Madikizela Mandela House. Our headquarters continue to act as a token of our gratitude to the mother of our nation. It was our response signal to our dearly departed that her fighting spirit for the emancipation of the African child lives on,” Mathys said.
She said as a young mother and wife of Nelson Mandela, with two small children Zenani and Zindziswa, Madikizela raised their daughters primarily as a single mother.
She characterised herself as the “most unmarried married woman”.
“It is important to remember that Madikizela-Mandela lived a full life. She was not just a resilient political leader and activist. She was an elder, mentor and provider to her community; she proudly served for decades in Soweto,” Mathys said.
She further said Madikizela-Mandela was a woman of faith, uMama wo Manyano in her church where she often retreated to find comfort, solace, and renew her faith in times of struggle.
“Madikizela-Mandela was a phenomenal leader who was denied the presidency of South Africa because of patriarchy and misogyny.
While there has been improvement in the quota of women occupying the space, the denial of strategic positions still reigns. Mama, we in the EFF, have picked up your sword, and the struggle continues. In our lifetime, we will deliver women into strategic positions as a political party,” Mathys said
She said Madikizela-Mandela was unwavering in her fight for the return of the violently stolen land.
“Mama, the ANC remains adamant that the land will not be returned despite the myth and stereotypes of the ‘strong black woman’ that harms black women by not seeing their humanity. We do so to acknowledge how she fought fearlessly for her freedom and ours, and to honour her for her sacrifice. We also honour the sacrifices of all women freedom fighters whose political memory is neglected and erased by this ANC government,” Mathys said.
She said a recent example of this was the Department of Arts and Culture in Gauteng who launched the Women’s Living Heritage Monument in Tshwane in 2016 costing more than R200 million.
“Yet, this monument meant to honour our political stalwarts like Madikizela-Mandela remains incomplete, in decay and is not fully operational. This is another reminder that this ANC government is not committed to fully seeing women as full political subjects, leaders, and activists. Neither is it committed to protecting women from gender-based violence and femicide, and ensuring that women have jobs, land, and the economic means of production.
“Having the power to do so with the full support of the EFF, Mama, the expropriation of land without compensation will be realised in our lifetime,” Mathys said.