Brightest star will guide us
Mandela loved to sing ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star’
ON Thursday night, around midnight, I stood on Meintjieskop, looked at the stars and reflected on my personal grief for Tata Madiba.
An enduring memory is his love for children. Wherever we travelled, when he found himself among children he would smile broadly and sing: Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are … and all the children would join in the chorus shrieks with laughter.
And so I looked up at the sky and saw Tata Madiba as the brightest star, who will forever remain in our hearts and will always guide us in our own journeys in life.
It was truly an honour and privilege to work for President Mandela.
I was so nervous when I first worked in the field with him, in Durban in 1994. I had yet to be formally introduced but Tata was ever so alert. He walked up to me and said, “Hello, how do you do, and who are you?”
Mary, his private secretary, told him that I had just joined the president’s office, in communications. From that day on, he cared for me as if I were his daughter.
He never liked formality and official titles. Towards the end of his presidency, he called me to ask why he had not seen me for a few weeks.
As soon as I said, “Mr President,” he demanded to know why I always addressed him like that. And I immediately said, “I am so sorry, Tata.”
Some of my favourite moments with Tata were at the breakfast table, or if I was working late at night and sitting alone with him.
He would chat about why we needed to do more for children and how he wanted to invite captains of industry to a breakfast and persuade them to sign a cheque to fund a project to build a school or clinic. He had to cajole the captains of industry and twist their arms to sign those much-needed cheques for his cherished projects. So, whenever I called them, they would joke and ask if they needed to bring their chequebooks.
He treated everybody he worked with as part of his family. I worked with him for five years. He was such a humble man.
In July I lost my dad, he was 93. Losing Tata is a double blow, I feel as if I have lost two fathers in one year.
I cherish most of all a signed picture of the two of us which reads, “To a remarkable young woman whose friendship I thoroughly enjoyed.”
Priscilla Naidoo is Mandela’s former communications assistant