Conversations with Myself (41 page)

4
.
A special letter is when a prisoner’s letter is not taken from their quota. Permission was usually given for special letters after a death or in connection with studies.

5
.
Makaziwe (Maki) Mandela, second-born daughter to his first wife, Evelyn, see
People, Places and Events
.

6
.
Thembi’s wife, Thoko, and two daughters, Ndileka and Nandi.

7
.
Nolusapho Irene Mkwayi. Wife of Wilton Zimasile Mkwayi. For Wilton Zimasile Mkwayi, see
People, Places and Events
.

8
.
Irene Buthelezi. Wife of Mangosuthu Buthelezi. See note 9, below.

9
.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi, see
People, Places and Events
.

10
.
Makaziwe Mandela, see
People, Places and Events
.

11
.
Adelaide Frances Tambo, see
People, Places and Events
. A note was written on this letter by a prison censor indicating that this was a ‘letter to Adelaide Tambo’ – Mandela had used a pseudonym. It is unlikely to have been posted.

12
.
Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, see
People, Places and Events
.

13
.
Douglas Lukhele. Lawyer. Senator and attorney general in Swaziland. He did his articles at Mandela and Tambo. See note 14 below.

14
.
Chancellor House was the building in which Mandela and Oliver Tambo started their own law practice, Mandela and Tambo, in 1952.

15
.
The Mai Mai Market is Johannesburg’s oldest and foremost market for traditional medicines.

16
.
Mandela and Oliver Tambo were two of the 156 members of the Congress Alliance arrested and charged with high treason in 1956, see
People, Places and Events
.

17
.
Nonyaniso Madikizela. Winnie’s sister.

18
.
Mandela is referring to his decision in 1961 to go underground and form MK.

19
.
Nomfundo (Mfundo) Mandela, Matso (Motsobise) and Bazala Biyana, and Thamie and Andile Xaba: cousins of Mandela’s children. Nombeko Mgulwa: distant relation. Mpho and Thabo Ngakane: children of close family friends.

20
.
Joyce Sikhakhane, see
People, Places and Events
.

21
.
Re roba matsoho
is a form of congratulation in Setswana.

22
.
Satyandranath (Mac) Maharaj, see
People, Places and Events
.

23
.
Tim Maharaj. Mac Maharaj’s first wife. For Mac Maharaj, see
People, Places and Events
.

24
.
George Bizos, see
People, Places and Events
.

25
.
Prison censors often cut words, sentences and paragraphs that they found offensive out of the letters.

26
.
Winnie was sentenced for violating her ban by being in the company of another banned individual.

Chapter Nine: Accommodated Man

1
.
Mandela wrote the autobiography in secret and Ahmed Kathrada and Walter Sisulu would check it for factual inaccuracies. Mac Maharaj and Laloo Chiba would then transcribe the work in tiny writing onto thin sheets of paper.

2
.
Billy Nair, see
People, Places and Events
.

3
.
An alliance of anti-apartheid organisations made up of the ANC, SAIC, COD and the CPC.

4
.
Prisoners were classified according to four grades ranging from A to D; A-grade prisoners received the most privileges. On arrival, the political prisoners were grade D, meaning they could receive and write only one letter and see only one visitor every six months.

5
.
Rosalynn Carter (1927–). Married to President Jimmy Carter.

6
.
Mantatisi (1780–1826). Regent of the Batlokwa (Sotho), 1813–26.

7
.
Dr Ayesha Arnold (d. 1987) was a friend in Cape Town whom Zeni and Zindzi stayed with when they visited Mandela in prison. She wrote to Mandela and sent him food.

8
.
Black As I Am
was a collection of poems published when Zindzi was sixteen years old and dedicated to her parents.

9
.
Thorobetsane Tshukudu was a made-up name for Adelaide Tambo (Tshukudu was her maiden name), see
People, Places and Events
. Mandela didn’t want to alert the authorities that he was writing to the Tambos, who were in exile in the UK, and the letter was sent care of Winnie.

10
.
Oo-thobela sikutyele
is an isiXhosa phrase meaning one who takes advantage of you if you are vulnerable or gullible.

11
.
Zenani (Zeni) Mandela, see
People, Places and Events
. Married Prince Thumbumuzi (Muzi) Dlamini, a son of King Sobhuza of Swaziland, in 1973.

12
.
The Black Consciousness Movement was an anti-apartheid movement targeting black youth and workers, see
People, Places and Events
.

Chapter Ten: Tactics

1
.
Frank Chikane (1951–). Cleric, anti-apartheid activist, writer and public servant. Member of the ANC.

2
.
Sheena Duncan (1932–2010). Anti-apartheid activist. Leader of Black Sash, a white women’s anti-apartheid organisation. Mandela wrote this letter to her on the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of Black Sash.

3
.
Samuel Dash (1925–2004). Board member of the League of International Human Rights. Chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee. Dash was the first American to interview Mandela in prison, in 1985.

4
.
Mandela is referring to his military training in Morocco in 1962.

5
.
Lord Nicholas Bethell (1938–2007). British politician, historian and human rights activist. Member of both the European parliament and assembly. He interviewed Mandela at Pollsmoor Prison in 1985.

6
.
Mandela had been sharing a communal cell with Walter Sisulu, Raymond Mhlaba, Andrew Mlangeni and Ahmed Kathrada.

7
.
Dr Lukas (Niël) Barnard, see
People, Places and Events
. Thabo Mbeki, see
People, Places and Events
.

8
.
Alfred Baphetuxolo Nzo, see
People, Places and Events
.

9
.
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (1942–). President of South Africa (2009–).

10
.
Mandela wrote to Minister of Justice Kobie Coetsee in 1985, to request a meeting to begin discussing the possibility of talks between the government and the ANC.

11
.
The Freedom Charter, see
People, Places and Events
.

12
.
Victor Verster Prison is located between Paarl and Franschhoek in the Western Cape, see
People, Places and Events
.

13
.
Jack Swart was a prison warder who cooked for Mandela at Victor Verster Prison.

14
.
Members of the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) were engaged in a deadly battle for supremacy in parts of the country.

15
.
The notes were made by Mandela’s lawyer, Ismail Ayob, and were located in the ANC archives at the University of Fort Hare.

16
.
Harry (Mphephethe) Themba Gwala (1920–95). Teacher, politician and political prisoner. Member of the SACP. Member of MK.

17
.
Shaka ka Senzangakhona (1787–1828). King of the Zulus, 1816–28.

18
.
Shauna Bradley was a nurse at Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic.

Chapter Eleven: Calendar Time

1
.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
, Dee Brown (published 1970).

2
.
An earthquake had occurred on the mainland, causing most damage in the town of Tulbagh.

3
.
The government invited twenty-five journalists to Robben Island to dispel rumours about the mistreatment of political prisoners.

4
.
Following Winnie’s imprisonment in 1976, she was banished from Johannesburg to Brandfort in the Free State in 1977.

5
.
Mandela and the other imprisoned Rivonia trialists had decided that, due to Matanzima’s support of the Bantustan scheme, Mandela should not meet with him.

6
.
James Kruger (1917–87). Politician. Minister of Justice and Police, 1974–79. President of the Senate, 1979–80.

7
.
Zaziwe (Zazi) is Zenani’s daughter, Mandela’s granddaughter.

8
.
Zamaswazi (Swati) is Zenani’s daughter, Mandela’s granddaughter.

9
.
Minister of Law and Order Louis le Grange. Du Preez was commissioner of prisons.

10
.
Albert Bambilanga Mtirara. Ruler of AbaThembu.

11
.
The dedication in
Black As I Am
.

12
.
Lilian Ngoyi’s daughter.

13
.
Helen Suzman, see
People, Places and Events
.

14
.
Zobuhle is Zoleka Seakamela (1980–). Zindzi’s daughter and Mandela’s granddaughter.

15
.
Buthi (means ‘brother’, although not necessarily a blood brother). A male relation of Mandela’s from his home town.

16
.
Oupa Seakamela. Zindzi’s partner at the time.

17
.
The official Day of Solidarity with South African Political Prisoners was designated by the United Nations General Assembly in 1976.

18
.
The Bantu Education Act of 1953 legalised the separation of races in educational institutions.

19
.
Mandela was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding by the Government of India in 1979.

20
.
Mandela was nominated for the position of chancellor of the University of London in 1981.

21
.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, see
People, Places and Events
.

22
.
Michael Foot (1913–2010). British Labour Party leader and writer.

23
.
David Steel (1938–). British politician and leader of the Liberal Party, 1976–88.

24
.
Anthony Bobby Tsotsobe, Johannes Shabangu and David Moise were all members of MK.

25
.
Solomon Mahlangu (1956–79). Member of MK. He was hanged.

26
.
Mabitsela was M K Malefane. Member of MK. He was staying at Winnie’s house.

27
.
Mlungisi Griffiths Mxenge (d. 1981). Anti-apartheid activist, human rights lawyer and political prisoner. Member of ANC. He was murdered by the security police.

28
.
Allister Sparks (1933–). Writer, journalist and political commentator.

29
.
Ngwenyama Sobhuza II (1899–1982). King Sobhuza of Swaziland. Zenani’s father-in-law.

30
.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o (1938–). Kenyan author.

31
.
Breyten Breytenbach (1939–). Writer and painter. Imprisoned in Pollsmoor Prison for seven years under the Terrorism Act.

32
.
John Jeremy Thorpe (1929–). British Liberal Party leader.

33
.
Peter Soal (1936–). Johannesburg city councillor and MP.

34
.
Selous Street was named after Frederick Courtney Selous (1851–1917).

35
.
George W Crockett, Jr (1909–77). Member of the US House of Representatives, 1980–91.

36
.
Transvaal Indian Congress, Council of Unions of South Africa, South African Allied Workers’ Union.

37
.
All members of MK who were executed for high treason.

38
.
Mandela grew vegetables on the rooftop at Pollsmoor Prison.

39
.
Archibald Mvuyelwa Govan Mbeki, see
People, Places and Events
.

40
.
‘Free Nelson Mandela’ was a protest song written by Jerry Dammers of The Specials (released on the single
Free Nelson Mandela / Break Down the Door
, 1984).