Salute Mother of the Nation

NOMZAMO Winifred Zanyiwe MadikizelaMandela, one of the icons of our Struggle for freedom, celebrated her birthday yesterday. Although 81, she has defied age and continues to shine brightly in these times when our country goes through a difficult political period.

Madikizela-Mandela has dedicated her life to serving the people of South Africa. Banished, exiled, jailed and cut off from her husband and children, she never gave up.

Her family life took a back seat while she fought for our freedom and to improve people’s lives.

She celebrated her birthday yesterday while her beloved political home, the ANC, is going through possibly the most difficult period in its history, plagued by factions, corruption and greed.

The economy is wobbly and the country cries out for credible, selfless leadership.

It must pain her that the values of the Struggle have been eroded by the selfish acts of her comrades. And that, more than two decades after the dawn of democracy, the black majority remain poor and disenfranchised in the land of their birth.

Her birthday should jolt us to reflect on the path we have travelled pre- and post-1994. We should ask hard questions about the meaning of our freedom.

But we must also use this time to celebrate her life and to give thanks she has so much time to be with us.

Like a true Mother of the Nation, she receives love, respect and admiration from the EFF, Cope, the DA and other opposition parties who have continued to drink from the well of her wisdom and leadership.

One of the few remaining icons of our Struggle against white minority rule, Madikizela-Mandela is a national treasure and should be celebrated while she is still alive.

We wish her many more years ahead and hope she enjoyed spending her 81st birthday with her family – something she was denied under apartheid.

Happy birthday, Mother of the Nation.