As he turns 93, and as a nation celebrates – with many pledging 67 minutes of their time to good causes – a warder, his lawyer and a neighbour who once shielded him while he was a fugitive from the law remember different aspects of Nelson Mandela.
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| Nelson Mandela |
Young prison warder Christo Brand was working in the censor’s office on Robben Island when birthday cards came streaming in.
It was July 18, 1978 – Mandela’s 60th birthday. “Thousands and thousands of them,” recalls Brand, now manager at the Robben Island Museum bookstore and gift shop. “From universities and companies overseas, I’m not even sure how many.”
But Mandela only saw six of the messages. “Conditions were very strict then, so he only got the cards from his direct family,” said Brand.
In 1982, when Mandela and the other Rivonia trialists were transferred to Cape Town’s Pollsmoor Prison, Brand went with them.
“They would always celebrate birthdays as a group, together. The prisoners were allowed to buy some small groceries of their own, and it was usually Ahmed Kathrada who would organise a little gathering with biscuits and small cakes and things.”
But, Brand says, rules were stricter for Mandela. Tentative negotiations were being held with the apartheid government, and he was often kept isolated from the other prisoners. Sometimes, the others would be allowed in to see him, one by one, and offer their congratulations. Sometimes, he would send the vegetables from his rooftop garden to the kitchen and they would make a special stew.
“I remember in 1984, Mandela didn’t get to join them and it was just another day in prison,” says Brand. “But I remember going into (Walter) Sisulu’s cell. He gave me a cup of coffee and a rusk, and said ‘We drink and eat on Mandela’s birthday’. When he was kept alone in Pollsmoor, us warders would go in and shake his hand and say ‘We hope you’ll be outside and at home next year’.”
Tears poured down the face of George Bizos at the Nelson Mandela Foundation premises yesterday. The lawyer was guest of honour at a function held by Saheti School at which students handed over a cake, cards and books to pupils of Bertrams Junior School in honour of Madiba’s birthday.
He was recounting the story of how, on a trip to Sounion, Greece, with the former president and his wife Graça, security was tight and the Mandelas were separated from the crowds with barricading.
However, Mandela saw a big group of children pushing forward, wanting to shake his hand.
“The president ordered that the barricading be pulled down and welcomed the children, hugging them and shaking their hands,” said an emotional Bizos, as tears rolled down his cheeks.
About 12 million school pupils and 27 000 schools were expected to sing for Madiba at 8.05 this morning, said Deputy Minister of Education Enver Surty.
“We did not merely send out circulars to the schools for this. We contacted them all. Flags will be flown and the national anthem, as well as the special Madiba birthday song, will be sung.
He, too, recalled Mandela’s kindness to children.
“My wife was involved in community work and he visited my home town in Rustenburg. She approached him while he was still standing at the podium, addressing communities and asked him for an autograph for our three daughters.
“He asked her their names and wrote: ‘To three beautiful princesses, I love you all’.”
Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane and City of Joburg mayor Parks Tau yesterday helped rebuild the houses of the Soweto councillors torched during violent electricity protests.
Mokonyane and Tau did this in honour of Mandela Day
The two laid a few bricks at the house of Chiawelo councillor Johannes Nemaungani yesterday, before proceeding to the freshly painted home of former councillor Mirriam Ramafola, which was burnt during the same protests.
”These are volunteers who have emulated the life of (former president) Nelson Mandela by dedicating their’s to serving their communities, but in the end they are victimised. Had Mandela been in Chiawelo, he’d be very embarrassed that these volunteers have become victims,” said Mokonyane.
Sannie Mokone is a few months older than Mandela. But that is not the only thing that makes her smile every time the former president celebrates his birthday.
“His life was once in danger and, together with my neighbours, (we) harboured him while he was in hiding in a room opposite my house in Selborne (outside Pretoria) in the 1950s.
“He was a handsome, Xhosa-speaking young man then; always neatly dressed and sported an unusual hairstyle with a line on his head,” Mokone said. “Mandela shared a rented room with the late Peter Magano, and we all contributed in different ways towards their well-being and protection. I can’t say I personally did much for Mandela, but… it gives me joy that the young man I met decades ago has defeated the odds, and that I’m also here to wish him well on his birthday.”
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