‘ Nightingale ’ honoured with special provincial farewell
Emotional send-off for Sister Tunyiswa who helped rebuild Tanzania’s health system
Like a true “Nightingale”, she extended herself and went beyond the call of duty.
This striking account of the actions of a selfless patriot was remembered at the special provincial official funeral of apartheid-era nurse Sister Kholeka Tunyiswa in New Brighton at the weekend.
Mourners gathered at the Nangoza Jebe Hall on Saturday to pay homage to the exemplar. Tunyiswa died in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on March 5, aged 90.
She was cremated in a private ceremony on March 6.
Her remains — contained inside a wooden cremation urn
— arrived on March 22 to a hero’s welcome at Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport, where a nursing cohort and government officials received them.
President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a government-officiated funeral for Tunyiswa on April 11.
A trained nurse, Korstenborn Tunyiswa, who taught briefly at New Brighton’s Pheendla Primary School after completing a two-year teaching course at Healdtown Training College, helped rebuild the health system in Tanzania after the nation gained independence in 1961.
She and her older sister, Edith, were among 20 nurses, later known as the Nightingales, who voluntarily took up deployment at the behest of struggle stalwart Oliver Tambo.
The departure of British nurses from the country at the time had constrained health care, spurring Tanzania’s then-president Julius Nyerere to plead with Tambo for assistance.
Tunyiswa, after their arrival in January 1962, spearheaded the establishment of local clinics during a 30-year professional career.
A guard of honour formed by a collective of retirees known as the Moreno Motherwell retired nurses’ organisation kick-started the official funeral at the Nangoza Jebe Hall.
Tunyiswa ’ s daughter, Joyce Shabani, led a ceremonial procession with her remains accompanied by sports, recreation, arts and culture minister Zizi Kodwa, who delivered the eulogy, government officials and the police brass band.
Other dignitaries included Kodwa ’ s deputy, Nocawe Mafu, MEC for the same portfolio, Nonceba Kontsiwe, deputy health minister Sibongiseni Dhlomo and rural development and agrarian reform MEC Nonkqubela Pieters.
Nelson Mandela Bay politicians, including sports, recreation, arts and culture boss Bassie Kamana and municipal director of sports Charmaine Williams, also paid their respects.
“She played a huge role in contributing to the struggle for liberation, ” Kamana said in the welcome address.
“[ Tunyiswa] was a nurse when it was not fashionable. She left the country and represented us well as an ambassador. She did not disgrace us.
“Instead, she came back with distinction.”
Kamana said a caring nation that did not celebrate its heroes was undeserving of the label.
He said the municipality had resolved to preserve and extend the legacy of stalwarts.
As one of only two surviving Nightingales, Sister Nosipho Mshumpela-Molomo vividly recounted the events leading up to the nursing group’s departure from SA. The two met at Addo Hospital in 1961 after the late nurse moved from practising midwifery at Livingstone Hospital.
“We sort of clicked and became friends,” MshumpelaMolomo said.
The retiree, 85, discussing the nature of the ANC-led underground operation, described how the struggle heroes organised the nurses.
Govan Mbeki oversaw Port Elizabeth, Albertina Sisulu — herself a qualified nurse — canvassed in Johannesburg, while Durban fell to Johnny Makhathini.
“I was in the Port Elizabeth group along with Kholeka and another three,” she said.
“Seven came from Johannesburg and eight from [KwaZulu-] Natal.”
Ahmed Kathrada co-ordinated the operation.
“We packed our bags, skipping the country without serving our notices.
“We were delinquents,” Mshumpela-Molomo said.
She said the decision by British nurses to up and leave was the culmination of the then Tanganyika rising above colonial rule and imperialism.
“They refused to work under black management.”
Grandson Fred Shabani credited Tunyiswa, who was admitted to Kinondoni Hospital in Dar es Salaam with a blood infection on March 4, with imparting valuable life lessons.
He expressed his gratitude for the decision by the government to accord a designated send-off.
“We thank the SA government for honouring her. What she did for society was amazing. We have to honour and applaud her and the others and extend our appreciation,” he said.
At the time of her retirement in 1991, a visionary Tunyiswa had seen 36 maternal and child health clinics operating in the Kinondoni district of Dar es Salaam.
She returned briefly to SA a year later, working at a clinic in Linksfield, Johannesburg, before retiring a second time.
An unveiling of Tunyiswa’s ashes was held during a burial service at the North End Cemetary at the gravesite of Edith and their parents, Ayda and Leonard.
Kodwa handed the SA national flag over to the family.
Speaking to The Herald later, he said: “As we build a new nation of our aspirations, its foundation must be the history from where we come.
“Occasions such as this must be a moment to remind each other where we come from. “We must not forget.” Kodwa said Tunyiswa and the other Nightingales set an example for the young generation to espouse.
“These are the people for whom Kholeka and others left their country of birth, which was not independent, to help an independent country.
“Not only are we here to send off the remains of a soldier, patriot and internationalist, but to use the opportunity to reconnect with our history.
“It is possible to undermine and risk your own freedom for the freedom of others.”
In his opening address during a state visit by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan on March 16, Ramaphosa paid tribute to Tunyiswa.
That same month, retired ANC journalist Clarence Kwinana wrote an extensive piece about the nursing group and their time in Tanzania.
Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane was unable to attend the funeral due to a family bereavement.