Madiba’s prison chef speaks of fond memories
‘He once asked me why there were two TVs, referring to the microwave’
JACK SWART, 71, the man responsible for preparing meals for former president Nelson Mandela stands in the kitchen at the Drakenstein Correctional Centre, recalling the days he served Madiba dishes such as umphokoqo (crumbled maize meal), two slices of whole wheat bread that he baked, and a mango.
Swart said Mandela never liked to be served at the table.
“He said ‘you are not my servant, when my meal is done call me and I’ll come fetch it’. He was just humble like that,” said Swart.
Swart was one of the special guests invited to the Drakenstein Correctional Centre on Tuesday, where Justice and Correctional Services Minister, Michael Masutha, launched the Nelson Mandela Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. It is here where Mandela spent 14 months of his final years as a prisoner.
Swartz said he could still see the global icon standing in the passage, greeting him with a smile.
He said he would never forget the days he spent with Mandela, especially the last on February 11, 1990, where as each morning Madiba would come down the passage, greet him and ask him about his family.
“People always ask what I prepared for him the day he stepped out of here, and I can still recall it. It was umphokoqo, two slices of whole wheat bread that I baked myself, and a mango,” said Swart.
He said he now works with the Mandela Foundation, as a tour guide, regularly visiting Robben Island and the house at Drakenstein Correctional Centre.
Swart had been working at the prison for a decade and was head of catering when he was redeployed as cook for Madiba.
He recounts how Mandela had mentioned him in his book Long Walk to Freedom and said he remembered the day he reported for duty back in 1988, which he said was not the first time he had met the “great man”.
“I met him for the first time as an 18 year old, young warder on Robben Island in October 1965. My job was to drive the inmates to the lime quarry, and we were ordered to drive over every rock, hole and make it as unpleasant as possible.
“When we got to the quarry, I heard a knock on the door, it was Madiba and he said, ‘what do you think we are, bags of mielies?’. I just rolled up the window,” he said.
He said Madiba did not recall this encounter but merely remarked: “I hope you are a better cook than you are a driver.”
Swart said their relationship quickly became a friendship and recalled losing an argument with Mandela, who was adamant in washing the dishes and their agreement to help each other with a second language.
English for Swart and Afrikaans for Madiba.
“He once asked me why there were two TVs, referring to the microwave and I told him and showed him how it worked. I filled a cup with water, heated it in the microwave and told him to put his finger in it and after that he would show his fellow former detainees who visited,” Swart said.