OPINION | The world tends to think of the hardened mother of the nation who always had her fist in the air, but Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was so much more.
2 April also marks the fifth anniversary of the day that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela died. Photo: Supplied
What the world sees in my mother is a gentle woman. So much so that she has been given the nickname Nku/Konyana , which aptly speaks to her nurturing, soft nature. My mother is a retired domestic worker, and therefore, the world also knows her as a woman who still can’t read and write. But what the world doesn’t know is that my mother was one of the hardest parents I’ve come across; a disciplinarian. She was not reluctant to use the stick when she thought a line was crossed.
She was perceived as a radical, angry woman. I had the privilege of talking to a gentle Mom Winnie on many occasions. A woman, for instance, who dropped everything when I called her one morning about the plight of a family whose daughter had gone missing. Not only did she visit Palesa Madiba’s family, but she also followed up several times with the then minister of police, Nathi Mthethwa, on progress in trying to find the girl.
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