
A South African play about Winnie Madikizela-Mandela explores Black women's long wait for absent men
The play about the late former wife of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first Black president, is adapted from the novel 'The Cry of Winnie Mandela' by Njabulo Ndebele. It explores themes of loneliness, infidelity and betrayal.
At the height of apartheid, Madikizela-Mandela was one of the most recognizable faces of South Africa's liberation struggle while her husband and other freedom fighters spent decades in prison. That meant constant harassment by police.
At one point, she was banished from her home in Soweto on the outskirts of Johannesburg and forcefully relocated to Brandfort, a small rural town she had never visited nearly 350 kilometers (217 miles) away.
Even after she walked hand-in-hand with her newly freed husband in 1990 and raised her clenched fist, post-apartheid South Africa was tumultuous for her.
Madikizela-Mandela, who died in 2018 aged 81, was accused of kidnapping and murdering people she allegedly suspected of being police informants under apartheid. She also faced allegations of being unfaithful to Mandela during his 27 years in prison.
Those controversies ultimately led to her divorce from Mandela, while their African National Congress political party distanced itself from her.
The isolation and humiliation inspired Ndebele to write about Madikizela-Mandela for South Africa's post-apartheid generations.
'How can they implicate Winnie in such horrendous events? She is the face of our struggle," Ndebele's character, played by South African actor Les Nkosi, wonders as he describes his thoughts upon hearing the news of the ANC distancing itself. "The announcement invokes in me a moral anguish from which I'm unable to escape. Is she a savior or a betrayer to us?'
A key scene addresses Madikizela-Mandela's appearance before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a body formed to investigate human rights abuses during apartheid. She denied murder and kidnapping allegations and declined a request to apologize to families of alleged victims.
'I will not be the instrument that validates the politics of reconciliation, because the politics of reconciliation demands my annihilation. All of you have to reconcile not with me, but the meaning of me. The meaning of me is the constant search for the right thing to do,' she says in a fictional monologue in the novel.
The play also reflects how the Mandelas' divorce proceedings played out in public, with intimidate details of their marriage and rumors of her extramarital affair.
For the play's director, Momo Matsunyane, it was important to reflect the role of Black women in the struggle against apartheid who also had to run their households and raise children, often in their husbands' long absence.
'It's also where we are seeing Black women be open, vulnerable, sexual and proud of it, not shying away. I think apartheid managed to dismantle the Black family home in a very terrible way. How can you raise other Black men and women when our household is not complete?" Matsunyane said.
In the play, one Black woman tells a group of friends how her husband ended their marriage when he returned home after 14 years abroad studying to be a doctor and found she had given birth to a child who was now 4 years old.
Another woman tells the same group — who call themselves 'Ibandla Labafazi Abalindileyo' (Organization of Women in Waiting in the isiXhosa language) — that her husband returned from many years in prison but left her to start a new family with a white woman.
Madikizela-Mandela, played by Thembisa Mdoda, gets to answer questions about her life and the decisions she made during an encounter with the women.
The play, which also draws on the protest music of that period, opened at The Market Theatre in Johannesburg and will run until March 15.
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Scotsman
13 hours ago
- Scotsman
Readers' Letters: Mhairi Black isn't consistent on Palestine
Once-prominent SNP MP Mhairi Black confuses reader Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... We learn that former SNP MP Mairi Black has left the party, citing differences of opinion with the party's stance over LGBTQ rights and Palestine. Both are important issues and few would deny that the current situation in Gaza is deeply tragic, but Black may also want to reflect on the persecution and violence experienced by those who do not identify as heterosexual in Palestine. Perhaps she is in denial of the reality that Hamas opposes the decriminalisation of same-sex acts across the territory, with the terrorist group seemingly also supporting flogging for acts of adultery. The conflict in the Middle East is significantly more multi-faceted than this, yet it surprises me that Black isn't more vocal on the shocking treatment of LGBTQ people in Gaza. Martin Redfern, Melrose, Roxburghshire Having stepped down as an MP last year, Mhairi Black has now quit the SNP too, because she disagrees with policies on Palestine and LCBTQ+ matters (Picture: Steve Ullathorne) Inherit the wind Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad On the eve of President Trump's visit to Scotland our First Minister felt he had to talk about Gaza and allowing peaceful protests. Why? This is a holiday for Donald Trump and he ought to be putting out the red carpet, not tacitly encouraging protests. Does anyone ever see peaceful protests any more? 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Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad So, unless by a sheer miracle John Swinney and his Ministers can pull the rabbit out of the hat, and make major changes in almost all sectors, the only rational way out of Scotland's dilemma is for Holyrood to be closed as a Scottish Parliament, and for Government of these Islands to return at the earliest opportunity to Westminster. Robert I G Scott, Northfield, Ceres, Fife Drink to England Today, as I make my journey home from England after a month away, I reflect on the common bonds that make the UK a wonderful entity. A love of the outdoors, a love of guid beer, similar weather systems, beautiful countryside and amazing people. England does appear to be a bit more civil in its workings; for instance, one can purchase a bottle of wine when collecting one's newspaper at 7am, thus negating the need to return at 10am, doubling the carbon footprint, due to the draconian rules imposed on us Scots. 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The Herald Scotland
15 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Sillars: Black wasted her 'exceptional' political talents
"Mhairi is a great waste of talent. She has bogged herself down in identity politics when our society is calling for people of talent to address much bigger problems," said Mr Sillars. "We have no housing available for the homeless. We have problems in the National Health Service. We have significant problems at every stage of education, from kindergarten to university. "Some of her talent should have concentrated on these big issues. And I deeply regret how she has marginalised herself in the political arena." READ MORE: Mr Sillars campaigned around Scotland ahead of the independence referendum in September 2014 with Ms Black in the "Margo Mobile", a van named after his late wife the former MSP and MP Margo MacDonald. "I can claim to have discovered Mhairi Black" he said. "At a meeting in Glasgow in 2014 I spoke at two young women spoke before me. Both were good, one was exceptional. "Afterwards I asked to get her telephone number and asked her if she would like to join the Margo Mobile. From the meeting, I went to STV to do an interview and told the producer that I had just met a young woman called Mhairi Black - remember that name." He continued: "She was and still is someone with exceptional talent, the kind of talent that we require in Scottish politics today." Jim Sillars wih Dennis Canavan, Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon, Colin Fox and Patrick Harvie, ahead of the independence referendum in 2014 (Image: Gordon Terris) Mr Sillars said he and Ms Black kept in touch after the independence referendum and when she became an MP. Speaking to [[The Herald]] ahead of her upcoming show at the Edinburgh Fringe, Ms Black told interviewer Teddy Jamieson that she had ended her membership of the [[[[SNP]]]] in recent weeks because she was unhappy with the direction the party had taken. 'Basically, for a long time I've not agreed with quite a few decisions that have been made,' she said. 'There have just been too many times when I've thought, 'I don't agree with what you've done there,' or the decision or strategy that has been arrived at. 'To be honest, I'm looking around thinking, 'There are better organisations that I could be giving a membership to than this one that I don't feel has been making the right decisions for quite some time.'' Mhairi Black pictured this week in The Herald offices (Image: Colin Mearns) Ms Black singled out what she described as 'the capitulation on LGBT rights, trans rights in particular,' as an issue for her. 'I thought the party could be doing better about Palestine as well,' she added. 'So it was just a culmination of these things.' Going forward, she said she would seek to support organisations such as the Good Law Project which has directly campaigned on issues such as climate crisis and trans rights by mounting legal challenges. 'That's what I want to throw my money behind,' she added. In 2015 Ms Black was elected as MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, beating Labour's Douglas Alexander, then Shadow Foreign Secretary, in the process. She was only 20 when she was elected to the Commons, making her the youngest MP since the 1832 Reform Act. Her maiden speech was watched 10 million times online. But her time in parliament also saw her receive death threats. At times she struggled with anxiety and depression and was forced to take time off from working in parliament at the end of 2017. She was also diagnosed with ADHD during her time as an MP. After successfully defending her seat in the 2017 and 2019 elections, Ms Black announced that she would not be seeking re-election in 2023. Last August - just weeks after the General Election which saw Labour return to power - she performed a Fringe show entitled Politics Is Not For Me, in which she explained why she believed Westminster was a dysfunctional institution and not fit for purpose. Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said: 'Mhairi Black was the future of the [[SNP]] once, but now she has chosen a new direction. 'That is, of course, the choice that Scots across the country will have at the Scottish Parliament election next year by voting to remove the SNP after almost two decades in power. 'The truth is that the SNP is a busted flush, with no vision, no ideas, and no strategy. 'From our NHS to our schools to our housing system, the SNP is responsible for so much of what is broken in our country. 'Anas Sarwar and [[Scottish Labour]] will work tirelessly to demonstrate that things can be better with a [[Scottish Labour]] government.' A spokeswoman for the [[SNP]] said: 'The [[SNP]] is the largest political party in Scotland, united under John Swinney's vision of creating a better, fairer Scotland for everyone. 'After a year of disappointment and let downs from the UK Labour government, it's clear that real change will never come from Westminster and that independence is essential for a better future.' One observer added: "I understand that the SNP party rules say that if somebody publicly resign from the party then they cannot be readmitted for at least two years and then only with the permission of The national executive committee." It is understood Ms Black informing The Herald that she is no longer a member of the SNP is not a 'public resignation'. Ms Black declined to comment.

Leader Live
a day ago
- Leader Live
John Swinney voices ‘regret' after former MP Mhairi Black quits the SNP
Ms Black, who spent nine years as an MP, said the party's 'capitulation' on trans rights was part of the reason for her decision. She stressed she still supports Scottish independence but there have been 'too many times' when she did not agree with decisions made by the party. She told The Herald newspaper: 'Basically, for a long time, I've not agreed with quite a few decisions that have been made. 'There have just been too many times when I've thought, 'I don't agree with what you've done there' or the decision or strategy that has been arrived at.' Ms Black said she is 'still just as pro-independence, absolutely', but claimed the party's 'capitulation on LGBT rights, trans rights in particular' had been an issue for her. She added: 'I thought the party could be doing better about Palestine as well.' The former MP said: 'If anything, I'm probably a bit more left-wing than I have been. I don't think I have changed all that much. I feel like the party needs to change a lot more.' Mr Swinney however insisted the SNP will 'champion' LGBT rights under his leadership, adding the party is also using its 'international voice' to push the UK Government to take a more 'robust' stance on Palestine. Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: 'I very much regret the decision that Mhairi Black has come to leave the Scottish National Party. 'I wish it wasn't the case and I wish her well for all that lies ahead. 'The SNP is a party that is addressing the core considerations and concerns of the people of Scotland, around the eradication of child poverty, around ensuring we succeed in our journey to net zero, that we are able to improve the performance of the National Health Service, and we address the cost of living challenge that people face in our society. 'But we're also a party with an international voice, pressuring the United Kingdom Government to be more robust on the steps its take to ensure that the interests of the people of Palestine are addressed and the suffering of the people of Palestine is brought to an end. 'We are a party under my leadership that will champion the rights of all within our society, and making sure that we have the strongest possible position on LGBTQ rights in Scotland.' Ms Black was catapulted into the political limelight in 2015 when she was elected to Westminster at the age of just 20, becoming the youngest MP since 1832. She was elected as the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, ousting the former Labour cabinet secretary Douglas Alexander, as the SNP captured all but three of the seats in Scotland in the first general election since the independence vote in 2014. She became the SNP's deputy leader in the House of Commons when Stephen Flynn took over as group leader. However she stepped down as an MP at the 2024 election, blaming the 'toxic' environment at Westminster. She was also diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during her time at Westminster, saying previously the condition was picked up after she became unwell with 'burn-out' during her time as an MP. An SNP spokesperson said: 'The SNP is the largest political party in Scotland, united under John Swinney's vision of creating a better, fairer Scotland for everyone. 'After a year of disappointment and let-downs from the UK Labour Government, it's clear that real change will never come from Westminster and that independence is essential for a better future.'