Staff Reporter
A woman who became a neighbour to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela when she was banished to the rural town of Brandfort in the Free State has described the late struggle icon’s daughter Zindziswa, who passed away Monday morning, as a friendly and loving person.
Nora Nomafa Moahlodi, 78, told The Free Stater by telephone that news of Zindzi’s passing had devastated her and all she could immediately do was to go through her photo collection and savour the fine moments she once shared with the Mandela family in Brandfort.
“When we heard . . . through the news this morning, the first thing was just to get some photos where they were celebrating Zindzi’s birthday,” Moahlodi said before letting a deep sigh as the sense of nostalgia was overwhelming her.
She was not sure how old Zindzi was turning at that birthday celebration but says she was in her 20s.
“Yes, I do remember Zindzi . . . She was a very lovely person. She liked people and she had friends here in Brandfort who used to visit her even though it was risky,” Moahlodi, a former teacher, said.
She recalled how some of Zindzi’s friends would later be picked up by members of the special police branch for breaking the law by interacting with the Mandela family.
“Mama Winnie used to cry saying she really felt bad that the children were being harassed because of her,” Moahlodi said.
“She would say ‘I am the only one involved in politics and no the children.’
“It was a very difficult time for the family but Zindzi also came across as a very strong person who was full of love.”
Zindzi arrived in the dusty Afrikaner-dominated town with her mother on May 16, 1977 when she as about 17 years old and the family was to live there until 1985.
The aim was to break her mother by dumping her in a place where she could not interact with anyone due to language barriers as she was Xhosa-speaking.
She was also told not to interact with the locals in the black township.
The residents, who mainly spoke mainly Sotho, Tswana and Afrikaans, were instructed not to talk to her.
The house that Zindzi lived in with her mother had no running water nor electricity.
Neither did it have floors nor ceilings.
Winnie, said Moahlodi, was never discouraged by that as she remained politically active and also set up community projects for the locals.
“People would defy police orders and go to House Number 802 because the whole community loved the family,” Moahlodi reminisced.
“Zindzi got along very well with other young people. We will definitely miss her because she kept in contact with us even after the passing of her mother.”
Moahlodi said even going to church was not easy for the family due to the restrictions and the church leaders had to be cautious.
“Zoleka (Zindzi’s daughter) and Zenani’s daughter were baptised here in my church, the Saint Mary’s Anglican Church, when they were here on holiday from Swaziland . . . but their records could not be kept at the church because the priest was afraid the police would find out,” she said.
She said after Madikizela-Mandela’s passing, the community gathered at their former house, which has now been turned into a heritage site, and released five doves to signify peace and the five wounds sustained by Jesus Christ on the cross and they later shared the visuals with Zindzi who she says appreciated it a lot.
Moahlodi said she was worried the Brandfort community might not be able to do something in memory of Zindzi due to the current restrictions on gatherings owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“People have been coming to my house asking me what we could do, but I don’t know if there is anything we can do right now because we are not allowed to gather,” she said.
Zindzi was not able to complete her education while in Brandfort until she was sent to Swaziland.
She was appointed South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark in 2014 and had just returned home ahead of another posting when she fell ill on Sunday and had to be rushed to hospital.
The cause of her death is yet to be known.
Zindzi, at times controversial, was married twice and had four children – Zoleka, Zondwa, Bambatha and Zwelabo.
Her first husband was Zwelibanzi Hlongwane.
She then married Molapo Motlhajwa, a member of the South African National Defence Force, in March 2013.