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Bambatha Mandela said his family would not allow any “defamatory” utterances and “disrespect” hurled towards his late grandmother, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Bambatha, the son of Madikizela-Mandela and Nelson Mandela’s second-born daughter, Zindzi, said to “those who are still trying to drag her name (in the mud), we’re very angry (and) hurt”.
In paying tribute to his grandmother at a memorial service at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Wednesday, Bambatha said Madikizela-Mandela was a “queen who raised kings and queens”.
The stadium was painted with a sea of yellow ANC colours and, as a sign that the late struggle icon was loved beyond her political affiliation, there were also colours of other political parties including the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
Speaker after speaker spoke fondly of the late former leader of the ANC Women's League, of how gallant she was, her selflessness, bravery and mainly her unbreakable will of steel in her fight against apartheid and pave the way for freedom.
Madikizela-Mandela was known to have kept the candle burning while her then husband Nelson Mandela was serving time on Robben Island. She had been in and out of prison and endured continuous harassment by the police while raising her children and fighting for ordinary citizens’ rights at the same time.
Bambatha said for all these contributions, Madikizela-Mandela should be honoured and respected.
“Learn to respect her instead of behaving like ungrateful children,” he said.
He said together with others, they had lunch at the struggle stalwart’s Orlando home in Soweto on Sunday, just a day before she died at Milpark Hospital.
Bambatha went to check on her the following morning and she woke and looked at him with her usual contagious smile and said to him: “Where is my Makoti (daughter-in-law)”, in reference to the woman he once proposed to marry in his grandmother’s house.
This led him to remember how his grandmother celebrated his engagement with him. Bambatha said he had organised for his girlfriend and their friends to come to Madikizela-Mandela’s Orlando house where he proposed.
But before that he went upstairs to reveal the ring to Madikizela-Mandela first who gave him her blessing. Moments later he came back upstairs and broke the good news to her – his girlfriend had just agreed to be his fiancée and he found himself being showered with the sweetest words of congratulations and praises.
He further remembered memorable stories he got from his grandmother about the time growing up with Madiba.
“She told me I used to drag my grandfather downstairs to the bathroom saying to him there were guns in there, and when opened, there were in fact guns in there,” Bambatha said.
This was followed by brief, but moving, tributes by the very young great-grandchildren of the late “mother of the nation”, as Madikizela was known.
One of them who identified himself as Zazi said his great-grandmother was “the best, a great fighter ... we all loved her. She was the best we ever had. Thanks for being the greatest Gogo”.
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