Read Online Winnie Mandela by Anné Mariè du Preez Bezdrob - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Anné Mariè du Preez Bezdrob
Tags: Winnie Mandela : a Life
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food at one of the stores. It was crowded with Pondo tribesmen wrapped in colourful traditional blankets. As Winnie waited for Columbus to be served, she noticed a tribesman buying a loaf of bread, some sugar and a cold drink, which he took to share with his wife, who was trying in vain to soothe her wailing baby. Clearly exhausted, the woman sat down on the floor in a corner of the store and put the baby to her breast. The man squatted on his haunches next to her and broke off pieces of bread for them to eat. Without warning, the white youth who was serving Columbus started shouting and charged at the man and his wife in the corner. He yelled at them to get out, that he wouldn’t have kaffirs making a mess in his shop, and kicked at them and their food.
Winnie was appalled. She fully expected the shop owners, apparently the boy’s parents, to intervene, but they just laughed. The buzz of conversation died abruptly, and no one uttered a word. Winnie looked expectantly at her father, who always spoke out strongly against any wrongdoing. Surely he would say something?
But Columbus, too, was silent. He had taught all his children to respect others and to have pride in their race, and Winnie could see that he was deeply disturbed at the humiliation meted out to his kinsman, so she could not understand why he said nothing. Only in later years, once she understood the complex dynamics of the relationship between the races, did she realise that had her father spoken, he might have made the situation worse.
The incident left an indelible impression on Winnie and made her aware, for the first time, that her father was fallible. In time, she would recognise that oneof apartheid’s by-products was that from an early age, black children saw their parents and families humiliated without making any attempt to protest or defend themselves. For children from families who taught them respect and compassion for fellow human beings, this was confusing. They could not understand why their parents were so often treated so shabbily by whites, and parents were at a loss to explain that they had done nothing to deserve such treatment, meted out on no other basis but the colour of their skin. It was an injustice that created an entire nation of people who expected to be victimised and brutalised, and in the long term cowered and did almost anything to avoid situations that might lead to humiliation and punishment, accepting servility as the norm. The pent-up frustration of generations would reach breaking point in Soweto in 1976 – but that was a long way off, and twelve-year-old Winnie Madikizela could not even begin to imagine her role in the future South Africa.
In January, with beating heart, she boarded a bus in the company of other children on their way to Flagstaff. She spent three years at Emfundisweni, where the only diversion from her studies was a flirtation with the idea of having a boyfriend. All the girls in her class wrote notes to the boys they liked, but there was no physical contact, and the relationships were confined to furtive glances exchanged in church.
Bit by bit, Winnie’s character was taking shape. Outwardly, she was still an unsophisticated country girl, but her parents had laid a solid ground for her development: Gertrude, with her strict religious morality and uncompromising discipline; Columbus, by sharing his passion for acquiring knowledge and skills, through his pride in his people, and by his example of compassion and assistance for those in their community who were in need.
Not surprisingly, she passed her junior certificate (Standard 8) with distinction, and when she went home for the holidays Columbus surprised her with news of his ambitious plans for her. It had been clear to him for some time that Winnie possessed both the ability and motivation for further study, and he was pondering the best route for her to follow. Initially, he wanted her to go to Fort Hare University, but a nephew who had
Winnie was appalled. She fully expected the shop owners, apparently the boy’s parents, to intervene, but they just laughed. The buzz of conversation died abruptly, and no one uttered a word. Winnie looked expectantly at her father, who always spoke out strongly against any wrongdoing. Surely he would say something?
But Columbus, too, was silent. He had taught all his children to respect others and to have pride in their race, and Winnie could see that he was deeply disturbed at the humiliation meted out to his kinsman, so she could not understand why he said nothing. Only in later years, once she understood the complex dynamics of the relationship between the races, did she realise that had her father spoken, he might have made the situation worse.
The incident left an indelible impression on Winnie and made her aware, for the first time, that her father was fallible. In time, she would recognise that oneof apartheid’s by-products was that from an early age, black children saw their parents and families humiliated without making any attempt to protest or defend themselves. For children from families who taught them respect and compassion for fellow human beings, this was confusing. They could not understand why their parents were so often treated so shabbily by whites, and parents were at a loss to explain that they had done nothing to deserve such treatment, meted out on no other basis but the colour of their skin. It was an injustice that created an entire nation of people who expected to be victimised and brutalised, and in the long term cowered and did almost anything to avoid situations that might lead to humiliation and punishment, accepting servility as the norm. The pent-up frustration of generations would reach breaking point in Soweto in 1976 – but that was a long way off, and twelve-year-old Winnie Madikizela could not even begin to imagine her role in the future South Africa.
In January, with beating heart, she boarded a bus in the company of other children on their way to Flagstaff. She spent three years at Emfundisweni, where the only diversion from her studies was a flirtation with the idea of having a boyfriend. All the girls in her class wrote notes to the boys they liked, but there was no physical contact, and the relationships were confined to furtive glances exchanged in church.
Bit by bit, Winnie’s character was taking shape. Outwardly, she was still an unsophisticated country girl, but her parents had laid a solid ground for her development: Gertrude, with her strict religious morality and uncompromising discipline; Columbus, by sharing his passion for acquiring knowledge and skills, through his pride in his people, and by his example of compassion and assistance for those in their community who were in need.
Not surprisingly, she passed her junior certificate (Standard 8) with distinction, and when she went home for the holidays Columbus surprised her with news of his ambitious plans for her. It had been clear to him for some time that Winnie possessed both the ability and motivation for further study, and he was pondering the best route for her to follow. Initially, he wanted her to go to Fort Hare University, but a nephew who had
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