with comrade Winnie Mandela, with whom my mother worked with for a while in the 1950s. My mother always regarded Mama Winnie Mandela as a comrade.


Hamba Kahle* Mama Winnie Mandela!

We will not give up your fight!

Matla ke a Rona!**

The Struggle Continues.

Viva the undying spirit of Winnie Mandela!

Viva the struggle against racism and oppression!


   _____________________


* – Hamba Kahle – an isiXhosa and isiZulu term meaning “travel well” – often used when bidding a departed one adieu.


* – Matla ke a Rona – victory is certain – a slogan during the struggle against Apartheid oppression and racial discrimination.



Comrade Nelson Mandela was a friend and comrade of my father, both of whom were fellow-accused among the 156 comrades in the infamous “Treason Trial” from 1956 to 1961 and who spent time in jail together. Comrade Mandela named my sister “Nobandla” – an isiXhosa name meaning “she who is of the people”. Comrade President Nelson Mandela was to be my father’s Best-Man at my parent’s wedding, but was unable to attend because he had been arrested and was in prison on another charge

Comrade Nelson Mandela and my father sometime in the 1950s.

President Nelson Mandela and my father in post-Apartheid South Africa


with President Nelson Mandela in Sweden 1990