Page 5 - 2nd Proofs

M A M A A L B E R T I N A S I S U L U C E N T E N A R Y C E L E B R A T I O N
A W O M A N O F F A I T H , A W O M A N O F F O R T I T U D E !

# M A S I S U L U 1 0 0
South Africa celebrate the life of Mama Sisulu

During this year 2018, we celebrated what would have been the
100th Birthday of our beloved Gogo Albertina Nontsikelelo Sisulu. It
has been encouraging to be part of and see the generosity of spirit as
various parts of the country and indeed many of our foreign missions
around the world celebrated MaSisulu, but most importantly taking
lessons from her life’s work for a just and equitable society while re-
maining grounded in the community.
CANON NTSIKI SISULU-
SINGAPI
In an interview by Sephadi, editor Moloto Mothapo, conducted on the
occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 1956 women’s march, MaSi- Ma Sisulu Centenary
sulu was asked what kept her strong through the worst forms of bru-
tality, harassment, the longest banning orders, arrest and detention.
Her response was, “ when asked this question I often tell people that, It was therefore fitting that we celebrated across the country and
There is a man in my room who helps me. They get shocked because across denominations to highlight the depth of the impact she had on
they knew that my husband was in jail. I would then tell them that the the broader society, all despite her own suffering. In 1983, mama
man was God. Although I was not a regular churchgoer, I always Albertina Sisulu’s banning orders were lifted for a short time. She
prayed and often my prayers would be answered.” then attended the funeral of a fellow comrade and a close friend,
mama Rose Mbele. She was shortly arrested after the service for
She gave a brief testimony as she recalled an answered prayer say- allowing herself to be introduced as Walter Sisulu’s wife - who at the
ing; “ I remember getting home from work very tired one day, only to time was considered a terrorist and serving a life sentence on Rob-
find my children hungry and nothing in the house (to eat), not even a ben Island. Another reason security gave for her arrest was that she
cup of tea. I went to my room in despair and prayed. Then my daugh- draped the coffin with an ANC flag and therefore furthered the aims
ter came to tell me that one of my neighbours (a woman) wanted to of the ANC (which at the time was a party that fought for freedom,
see me. I went out and this woman pressed ten rand (R10) into my democracy and equality amongst all people, particularly women and
hands saying, ‘Mama, I thought you might need this.’ Ten rand was a children).
lot in those days and I was so relieved as well as deeply moved by her
kindness. My neighbours were very kind to me and supported me Holy Cross Anglican Church thanksgiving service was therefore a re-
through the darkest days.” calling of restrictions on her life, a spiritual rebirth of the enduring
spirit of MaSisulu and an opportunity to give thanks for her life. The
MaSisulu’s birthday (21 October) fell on a Sunday this year. Proceed- Holy Cross Anglican Church has a long history of association with the
ings started with a wreath laying where she lies next to her beloved family. The backyard of Holy Cross Anglican Church is diagonally op-
husband Walter Sisulu before proceeding to Holy Cross Anglican posite the Sisulu residence, 7372 Orlando West, Soweto. Walter Si-
Church for a thanksgiving service, visit to the renovated holy cross sulu and his mother, Alice Manse Sisulu, were the first residents of
crèche, the Orlando west library, shanty clinic ending with lunch and that house at the beginning of the 1940s. Great grandma Alice Sisulu
cake cutting at the Albertina Sisulu Centre for children with disabili- was very active in the church. She kept the keys of the church and
ties. was responsible for keeping it clean. Her grandsons, Max and
Mlungisi, often spoke of how they would assist their Gogo with the
MaSisulu’s birthday and Centenary celebration was a true reflection cleaning of the church.
of who she was as a true community leader without ever aspiring to
holding a prominent leadership position. She walked to work often Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela were frequent visitors at the Si-
and was sometimes seen on her bicycle carrying medical supplies for sulu home. Mandela and Sisulu were not regular church goers, but
home visits where she often shared political information with house- Oliver Tambo was, so he would accompany Alice Manse to the
holds as she helped women deliver babies in their own homes. church. As a result, she was very close to Oliver Tambo and she liked
him a lot.
As part of her banning orders, mama Albertina Sisulu was not allowed
to attend any gatherings which had more than 3 people and this in-
cluded religious gatherings. She therefore could not attend the Holy
Cross church which was only about 10 steps away from her home. As
a woman of faith, this was particularly devastating but it could not
stop her from having a consistent prayer life. MaSisulu was truly inter-
denominational as she grew up Presbyterian, converted to Catholi-
cism in school and ultimately married Anglican and raised her chil-
dren as such.

The Cathedral of St Mary the Virgin - Newsletter I page 5