When I think of a woman who was truer to herself, but perhaps not happy, Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela comes to mind. I keep pondering, I sometimes wonder if maybe the unfairness to all the injustices we continue to suffer from as a country, could get all the answers it needs from a female leader?
Mama Winnie, you were the epitome of a black African feminist. All the stories that I came across since the announcement of your passing on Monday, April 2, were accounts of a strong black woman who refused to be in the shadow of a man, irrespective of how powerful that man was going to be. You insisted on paving your own path, and that on its own was powerful and remarkable.
I get goosebumps when I listen to or read stories of how the patriarchy in the very liberation movement-turned-political party tried so hard to oppose you and to sideline you. They were scared of the power you possessed. They still fear the presence of a powerful woman even today. It is no wonder the very same party remains so male-dominated.
However, this isn’t about them. This is about the powerhouse that is you, Mama. In your honour, women of South Africa, black, white, coloured, young, middle-aged and old have pledged, they have vowed to continue your legacy.
You were a real matriarch. Your warmth was felt everywhere you go. That is something patriarchy cannot relate to nor tolerate.
The ANC leadership did not fail you, they failed themselves.
In South Africa and the whole world, most positions of power, influence and privilege are occupied by men. This would have made sense tens of thousands years ago when we lived in a world whose survival depended on physical strength. But unfortunately, democracy did not usher in the liberation of women. In South Africa, it solidified the positions of men who are egotistic, narcissist and misogynistic.
It was never going to be easy for a strong-willed, assertive and foresighted woman like you to rise to power in the context of politics. They did not want to make room for a black African feminist like yourself. Your presence, mental substance and essence was the highest level of discomfort for them. They robbed us of your full greatness. However, they could never keep your greatness from us.
Perhaps in also realising that you will fight for the freedom of your people without them made them feel emasculated. They were never ready for you, Mama.
They deprived you political power because they were scared of how you were going to expose their incompetence as men, which was subsequently going to make them feel so emasculated. They did not exclude you from running for the highest office in the land because they thought you were not good enough. It was because they knew and they still know that you were going to outdo them.
Adichie further says: “Today, we live in a vastly different world. The person more qualified to lead is not the physically stronger person. It is the more intelligent, the more knowledgeable, the more creative and more innovative. And there are no hormones for those attributes. A man is likely as a woman to be intelligent, innovative and creative. We have evolved, but our ideas of gender have not evolved very much.”
That is what scared them the most. You had those attributes long before we could dream of being free from apartheid. Not only that, they don’t even give us intelligent or creative leaders. They give us thieves, unwise intellectuals who are reaping the rewards of their fathers.
Rest in eternal peace, Mama Winnie, your legacy will continue.
Whether they build roads in your honour, whether they erect statues to salute you, whether they name hospitals or build museums in your name, your legacy is one that has multiplied in our hearts and minds. That is the most important thing, to continue and carry your spirit in our hearts will make this country a better place to live in. That is what you fought for all your life.
I believe that each and every woman who said you had multiplied meant that they would continue to fight patriarchy from where you left off. Most importantly, I pray and hope that they, too, evolve to become fierce activists.
May your unwavering character, fighting spirit and bravery multiply, Mama. Lala ngoxolo qhawe lamaqhawe, Mother of the Nation.
Kabelo Chabalala is the founder of the Young Men Movement (YMM). E-mail: [email protected]; Twitter, @KabeloJay; Facebook, Kabelo Chabalala