In her own words: Mam'Winnie as she was; not as I was taught about her
I have been rewatching the documentary about Mam'Winnie's life, Winnie. I am still stunned about what happened to
Mam’Winnie in the wake of the new South Africa, the Rainbow Nation. Moreover, I
am even more aware of the power of propaganda which successfully hid
Mam’Winnie’s voice and intellect from public discourse; even in the new South
Africa.
In the wake of her death I became astounded by the video clips which emerged (some of which were not in the documentary) showing Mam’Winnie’s intellectual and emotional contribution to the struggle. Of course these video clips have always existed but our misperception, guided by propaganda did not allow us to see nor hear them fully. While Mam’Winnie has been misrepresented as the violent woman who could have jeopardised the ‘smooth transition’ we had in South Africa, her own words belie this misrepresentation. Take for example her analysis of the plight of black women in an interview which begins mid-sentence:
struggle against apartheid and the struggle of the black woman, as a woman first in society and as an oppressed woman by the racist regime. We are prisoners of our own culture. Black women have had to battle all the way to fight against the oppression of her as a human being, to fight against the dominance culturally in a traditional society to where the black woman’s position is in fact at home. And at the same time she has had to emerge as the pillar in that society where she is deprived of the head of the family for very many reasons as a result of the country’s laws. The black woman in the rural areas who has had to live year in and year out without her husband, sees the husband when he comes home for a week or two or a month…
In the same interview she talks about her husband who has credited himself for her own political awakening but in her own words she says:
He has never discussed anything political with me. I’m not his political product actually. I’ve never been. I’ve never had the opportunity to be one. It is the African National Congress that has made me what I am.
She continues to talk about the role of the ANC Women’s League and the work that it did during the pass laws; and that it seems women were doing far more political work than history books would have us believe. This interview reminds me of a letter Ma’Charlotte Maxeke wrote in 1920 entitled “Ukubiwa kweLeague” (The League is being sabotaged) where she berates the Cpngress because of how the factions in the SANNC of the time were affecting the work of the Bantu Women’s League. Women have had to speak out against the patriarchal tendency of erasing the work that women have done and Mam’Winnie continues to do this in her interview decades later.
While in Brandfort she is interviewed and she offers an analysis of what it means being the black majority and her unwavering conviction in a different future:
We are the power in this country…we can bring this country down to its knees, we are the labour of this land, we are everything of this land…there will be a one man one vote in this country and there will be a majority government in this country and that majority government will accommodate everybody…led by Mandela.” When asked about the future and whether she believes she will see liberation in her lifetime she responds with a disarming smile “Oh certainly! That I’m completely convinced of…um…That is why even exile is so worthwhile because I’m absolutely certain that we shall attain our liberation and even being in exile really is a constant reminder of this sickness of our society and that we are virtually in prison even in our country, those who are outside prison walls are simply in a bigger prison because the black man is virtually a prisoner and all those other fellow whites and groups who are oppressed, we are all really in prison, in a bigger apartheid prison
There are also many clips of her physically defending herself and black people in front of white policemen. The clip that has become the most prominent is of her hot fury and rage towards the soldiers who have shot and arrested people and she dresses down a young white policeman asking him “What are you doing here killing our people? What are you arresting our people for?” The policeman makes the error of responding that he does not know and Mam’Winnie’s arms and voice rise to show even more anger as she responds “You do not know? What are they doing in your van? Why did you come take them from that squatter camp when they’ve done nothing to you?”. She says this as the policeman walks away and she follows him demanding answers. Another clip shows her pushing a white woman who is trying to subdue her into getting arrested and every time the white woman comes towards her, she pushes her away with the words “Don’t touch me…don’t drag me”.
And of course the flurry of photographs which depict her everlasting beauty with her fist in the air or carrying a coffin on her shoulders. All these images and Mam’Winnie’s own words have been a balm as we mourn her life and begin to realise the gravity of what it means to not have questioned why Mam’Winnie was being vilified by those in her own party like a witch burning at the stake. Her words will ring in my memory forever and hopefully those who were too drunk on the rainbow nation kool-aid have listened anew and realise the farce of not only the Truth and Reconciliation Commission but also the decisions made by those in power to sideline and continue the torment of women who were ungovernable in the party.
Her words are still relevant to us today as we mourn her in a South Africa which continues to struggle to make true freedom a reality. In 1964 after the Treason Trial Mam’Winnie said “I can never lose hope and my people shall never lose hope; in fact, we expect that the work will go on” and these words are truer now in 2018 because as the older generation of leaders continue to pass away a new generation of leaders has already emerged which holds on to the hope that the work will go on until true freedom is realised. It seems that the clips that have emerged resonate with another woman who spoke truth to power: Mam’Miriam Makeba said in an interview:
The conquerer writes history: they came, the conquered and they wrote. Now you don’t expect people who came to invade us to write the truth about us. They will always write negative things about us and they have to do that because they have to justify their invasion…The truth shall never be covered by a lie.
Mam’Winnie will continue to be vindicated even in her death. Those who are hearing the truth about her story now have the opportunity to see South Africa for what it is and fight against the propaganda we have been feed for decades.
 |
| from: https://www.winniedocumentary.com/ |
In the wake of her death I became astounded by the video clips which emerged (some of which were not in the documentary) showing Mam’Winnie’s intellectual and emotional contribution to the struggle. Of course these video clips have always existed but our misperception, guided by propaganda did not allow us to see nor hear them fully. While Mam’Winnie has been misrepresented as the violent woman who could have jeopardised the ‘smooth transition’ we had in South Africa, her own words belie this misrepresentation. Take for example her analysis of the plight of black women in an interview which begins mid-sentence:
struggle against apartheid and the struggle of the black woman, as a woman first in society and as an oppressed woman by the racist regime. We are prisoners of our own culture. Black women have had to battle all the way to fight against the oppression of her as a human being, to fight against the dominance culturally in a traditional society to where the black woman’s position is in fact at home. And at the same time she has had to emerge as the pillar in that society where she is deprived of the head of the family for very many reasons as a result of the country’s laws. The black woman in the rural areas who has had to live year in and year out without her husband, sees the husband when he comes home for a week or two or a month…
In the same interview she talks about her husband who has credited himself for her own political awakening but in her own words she says:
He has never discussed anything political with me. I’m not his political product actually. I’ve never been. I’ve never had the opportunity to be one. It is the African National Congress that has made me what I am.
She continues to talk about the role of the ANC Women’s League and the work that it did during the pass laws; and that it seems women were doing far more political work than history books would have us believe. This interview reminds me of a letter Ma’Charlotte Maxeke wrote in 1920 entitled “Ukubiwa kweLeague” (The League is being sabotaged) where she berates the Cpngress because of how the factions in the SANNC of the time were affecting the work of the Bantu Women’s League. Women have had to speak out against the patriarchal tendency of erasing the work that women have done and Mam’Winnie continues to do this in her interview decades later.
 |
| Mam'Winnie and her daughters: from www.winniecodumentary.com |
While in Brandfort she is interviewed and she offers an analysis of what it means being the black majority and her unwavering conviction in a different future:
We are the power in this country…we can bring this country down to its knees, we are the labour of this land, we are everything of this land…there will be a one man one vote in this country and there will be a majority government in this country and that majority government will accommodate everybody…led by Mandela.” When asked about the future and whether she believes she will see liberation in her lifetime she responds with a disarming smile “Oh certainly! That I’m completely convinced of…um…That is why even exile is so worthwhile because I’m absolutely certain that we shall attain our liberation and even being in exile really is a constant reminder of this sickness of our society and that we are virtually in prison even in our country, those who are outside prison walls are simply in a bigger prison because the black man is virtually a prisoner and all those other fellow whites and groups who are oppressed, we are all really in prison, in a bigger apartheid prison
There are also many clips of her physically defending herself and black people in front of white policemen. The clip that has become the most prominent is of her hot fury and rage towards the soldiers who have shot and arrested people and she dresses down a young white policeman asking him “What are you doing here killing our people? What are you arresting our people for?” The policeman makes the error of responding that he does not know and Mam’Winnie’s arms and voice rise to show even more anger as she responds “You do not know? What are they doing in your van? Why did you come take them from that squatter camp when they’ve done nothing to you?”. She says this as the policeman walks away and she follows him demanding answers. Another clip shows her pushing a white woman who is trying to subdue her into getting arrested and every time the white woman comes towards her, she pushes her away with the words “Don’t touch me…don’t drag me”.
And of course the flurry of photographs which depict her everlasting beauty with her fist in the air or carrying a coffin on her shoulders. All these images and Mam’Winnie’s own words have been a balm as we mourn her life and begin to realise the gravity of what it means to not have questioned why Mam’Winnie was being vilified by those in her own party like a witch burning at the stake. Her words will ring in my memory forever and hopefully those who were too drunk on the rainbow nation kool-aid have listened anew and realise the farce of not only the Truth and Reconciliation Commission but also the decisions made by those in power to sideline and continue the torment of women who were ungovernable in the party.
 |
| Mama in Brandfort (https://www.iol.co.za/pretoria-news/winnie-knew-more-about-the-enemies-than-robben-island-prisoners-14237424) |
Her words are still relevant to us today as we mourn her in a South Africa which continues to struggle to make true freedom a reality. In 1964 after the Treason Trial Mam’Winnie said “I can never lose hope and my people shall never lose hope; in fact, we expect that the work will go on” and these words are truer now in 2018 because as the older generation of leaders continue to pass away a new generation of leaders has already emerged which holds on to the hope that the work will go on until true freedom is realised. It seems that the clips that have emerged resonate with another woman who spoke truth to power: Mam’Miriam Makeba said in an interview:
The conquerer writes history: they came, the conquered and they wrote. Now you don’t expect people who came to invade us to write the truth about us. They will always write negative things about us and they have to do that because they have to justify their invasion…The truth shall never be covered by a lie.
 |
| Screenshot from interview |
Mam’Winnie will continue to be vindicated even in her death. Those who are hearing the truth about her story now have the opportunity to see South Africa for what it is and fight against the propaganda we have been feed for decades.
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