Hamba Kahle MaSisulu - Albertina Nontsikelelo Sisulu

I grew up in Orlando West
on the corner of Sisulu Street and Pela Street

Mah granny's house was just opposite the clinic on the main road
so we would witness a lot of victims of police brutality [mostly bullets, dog bites and sjambok]
coming in and out of the clinic
and a lot of yutes would run for cover into our home to hide from the police
ma granny wud act so nonchalantly, let them, or rather help them hide, while the police came searching
i was a likkle kid then [back in the early eighties]
and i'd be playing on mah own while granny busy with the house hold chores
would be keepin an eye on  me
mah granny would either ignore dem police while searching the house lookin fo the yute
they would bully and harass mah granny but she would not burge
sumtimes she wud tell dem dat he'd jumped over the fence and continued
or she wud jus ignore dem until dem ah gone
then she wud let the yute out, i wud get him sum water, and  granny wud talk to him fo a while
try to find out if he was from the area and what his story was
if granny saw or sensed fire in the yute
she would eventually send him off to MaSisulu [Albertina Sisulu]


MaSisulu wud definately have an advise for the yute or sort him out in one way or the other
We all knew that. We all turned to MaSisulu for help/comfort/advise/spiritual guidance/assurance and everything else.
MaSisulu was like a mythical womam to me as i was growing up
I had never seen her live-in-action, even though i lived not far from her house
Just like her husband, her name was known and revered
you just never used her name like that in vain
when her name popped up, then yu kno the shit has hit the fan, its serious stuff
a lot of yutes used to disappear in those days
especially boys. they wud either go into exile by crossing the border into Swaziland or Botswana
or Lord knows where. or they wud be in police custody, or for the unlucky mothers, they would have already met their maker, and in most cases, they wud just disappear from the face of the earth
as a kid, i wud see the faces of the distressed mothers searching for their yutes
and they wud  be asked if they had been to see MaSisulu, or they wud come so
that mah granny wud accompany them to the Sisulu household
I had always revered MaSisulu, no words can truly describe what she had done for the Nation
and especially for the community she resided in
She and a group of other women opposed the Bantu education
and they started some sort of home schooling system
I am a product of those schools that operated outside of the Bantu education shitstem
even though our school was run by a church, [and survived till today, while others had to shut down]
still it was MaSisulu and others who set them into motion

she was already a mythical figure to me as i was growing up

even later in years, long after apartheid had been abolished, i would always 

have a certain kinda sensation running down mah back at the mention of her name

It was her daughter in-law who helped to de-mythisise and immortalise her for me
After reading: Walter and Albertina Sisulu: In Our lifetime
written by Elenor Sisulu, wife of Max Sisulu, eldest son of the Sisulus
I got to understand sum of the things that eluded me when I was a little gal
some pieces fell into place and the bigger picture was solidified
I understood the visuals, the images, phrases
embedded in me from mah childhood daze
I overstood then why mah granny used to send those boys off to MaSisulu
when i was a likkle gal, it was just protocol, it was the thing to do
to go to MaSisulu for help and advise and what not
I always had a hero, a mythical hero for that
and i did not just invent her, she was real, and her deeds were real, not cooked up
she was only mythical because i thought her to be
yet she was real, and did stuff that can only be described as myths
I am happy she lived to be 92 and see the fruits of her labour
and that she passed on in the company of her grandchildren

Downtown Johannesburg a statue of the Sisulus

she done gone joined her lovin husband in the land of the ancestors
I weep not for her, for I know that she will be recounting tales from the land of livin to her husband Walter Sisulu, as she had always done while Tata Sisulu was in prisonshe always kept him up to date, especially on the developement of their children so i imagine them now, sipping tea together and MaSisulu recounting her last days on earth to Tata Sisulu
they would be in good company too
Oliver Tambo Steve Biko Samora Machel Joe Slovo Chris Hani
Brother Malcom and Brother Gil Scott-Heron would also be there and many more
Hamba Kahle MaSisulu
May your soul rest
May your light continue to shine
May the ancestors give you a divine welcome
In ya dis ya time
All Africa dot com, has got a tight summary of the life and times of MaSisulu. check it here.