Police officer assigned to watch Winnie ‘shattered by her death’
Brandfort
Now retired police officer Sello Segalo’s job was to watch Winnie Madikizela-Mandela after she was banished to Brandfort in the Free State in 1977.
He had to jot down the registration numbers of the cars that came to her home. But when he was off duty, he paid regular visits to her. Segalo was a 21-yearold constable when Madikizela-Mandela came to Brandfort. He served at the Brandfort police station for 38 years before retiring in 2014.
“On her first day here, we were worried as we didn’t know anything about her.
“After a week or two, we could see that she was really the ‘mother of the nation’.
“She gave us her heart, her love and did many things for us. Even though I was in the apartheid police force, she was my favourite.”
During her eight-year banishment, she had to report to the police station every day and she always came in smiling, he said. “Some white police officers were scared of her and others hated her, but some secretly loved her.”
Segalo had to arrest Madikizela-Mandela’s comrades after some of her visitors had been identified.
“It was extremely painful to arrest fellow blacks who were fighting for me and my freedom, too,” he said.
Holding back tears, he added: “I am shattered by her death.
“I learned so much from her. She taught me to have staying power and to stand my ground.”