The mother of the international Black Nation Mama Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela has been laid to rest after a programme at Soweto’s Orlando Stadium, appropriately amidst lightning flashes and roaring thunder. (1) The tributes to the Warrior Queen Mama were effusive.. Her eldest daughter Zenani Mandela-Dlamini shared:
“We were unprepared for the scale of the outpouring of love and personal testimonies from so many. From the rising generation, which is too young to have been around when my mother took on the Apartheid State, to those who hail from the African Diaspora, we have been reminded of how she touched so many, in ways that are so deeply personal.” (2)
Similarly, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Commander In Chief Julius Malema reflected:
“I am here not so much to burry Mama, because Queen Mothers do not die, they multiply into a million red flowers of love and freedom.” (3)
In addition to the fond remembrances a recurring theme was the railing against the injustices meted out against Queen Mama Nomzamo. Once gain, daughter Zenani proclaimed:
“As the world—and particularly the media, which is so directly complicit in the smear campaign against my mother—took notice of your acts of resistance, so too did this narrative begin to change. The world saw that a young generation, unafraid of the power of the establishment, was ready to challenge its lies, lies that had become part of my mother’s life. And this was also when we saw so many who had sat on the truth come out one by one, to say that they had known all along that these things that had been said about my mother were not true. And as each of them disavowed these lies, I had to ask myself: ‘Why had they sat on the truth and waited till my mother’s death to tell it?… Only they know why they chose to share the truth with the world after she departed. I think their actions are actions of extreme cruelty, because they robbed my mother of her rightful legacy during her lifetime. It is little comfort to us that they have come out now… And to those who’ve vilified my mother through books, on social media and speeches, don’t for a minute think we’ve forgotten. The pain you inflicted on her lives on in us.” (4)
It was a theme that Malema, in a typically firebrand address, readily tapped into, calling out the “betrayers” and “sell-outs,” asserting “we see you!,” while awaiting “a signal” from Queen Mama on how to deal with them. (5)
So now while the Afrikan World exists in the current status of being the proverbial “Motherless child.” Activists such as political analyst Vukani Mde contemplate her enduring legacy:
“There is an entire generation of South African who were young then who credit her with their own political consciousness because she raised them as politically conscious people. People who would have been lost to the struggle for liberation.” (6)
At Auntie Jean’s Cultural Market on April 15th, the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement’s own Warrior Queen, Sis. Kai Ouagadou-Mbandaka, set her sights on today’s activists to in a spirit of self-evaluation.
“Who’s gonna stand up? Who’s gonna take the that space because it needs to be filled. In our life time there are certain people that come here for a purpose and fulfil that purpose. We are all here with a purpose to fulfil but we don’t always fulfil the purpose. Queen Mama Nomzamo fulfilled hers.”
Sis. Kai added that throughout her life Queen Mama Nomzamo was an organisation woman – even when the organisation was seriously at odds with her. (7) she exhorted us to use our adversities to strengthen us as we build and grow organisation.
The likes of Julius Malema are clear that he is “here to pick up her spear, and make my vows that I will continue to fight for a mission of restoring the dignity of black people through attainment of economic freedom in our lifetime.” He concluded that if the ANC, so often at odds with Mama Nomzamo really want honour her they should name Cape Town Airport after her. (8)
(1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gfi1D3InCk
(2) Zenani Mandela-Dlamini (14/04/18) Full speech delivered by Her Royal Highness Zenani Mandela-Dlamini at Mam’ Winnie’s funeral. https://city-press.news24.com/News/full-speech-delivered-by-her-royal-highness-zenani-dlamini-at-mam-winnies-funeral-20180414
(3) Julius_S_Malema (14/04/18) Julius Malema’s tribute to Winnie Mandela: The full speech. http://www.bmtvafrica.com/8105/julius-malemas-tribute-to-winnie-mandela-the-full-speech.html
we ask the question:
What is the best way to honour Queen Mama Nomzamo’s legacy?
1) What are your memories of Queen Mama Nomzamo?
2) Why are the people who lied on her before, telling the truth now
3) Why was she so appealing to young people?
4) Is the Afrikan world now like a “motherless child”?
5) What kind destiny are we fulfilling (if any)?
6) Should Cape Town Airport be renamed after Mama Nomzamo?
Our very special guest:
Mama Lindiwe Tsele a veteran political activist who has lived mainly in London and Manchester and very much involved with liberation fight of South Africa. Mama Lindiwe is also the author of Zimbabwe women in Chimurenga: A personal synoptic account of the experiences of some of the women of Zimbabwe during the liberation war for the freedom of Zimbabwe.