The Transkei region has become an iconic space in the South African landscape because of the many liberation leaders that were born in that area. Both Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu were born not far from Camama, the village in which Nontsikelelo Thethiwe was born. It was only when Nontsikelelo started school at a local mission post that she, like Mandela, acquired the European name, Albertina.
In September 1918 the Spanish Flu, a particular strain of the influenza virus that had killed 40 million people worldwide, reached South Africa. The results were as devastating as elsewhere in the world. The conservative estimate is that the epidemic killed a quarter of a million people in South Africa, and the Transkei was no exception as more than 30 000 people died out of a population of 1 million.
Monica Thethiwe (nee: Mnyila), caught the virus and was seriously ill whilst pregnant with her first daughter and her second born, Albertina. Elinor Sisulu, daughter-in-law and biographer of Walter and Albertina Sisulu, records that “Umbathalala, as the flu was called in Xhosa, was particularly lethal to pregnant women and small babies” and the Mnyila and Thethiwe families feared that Albertina would be infected in utero. Despite this when Albertina was born to Bonilizwe and Monica Thethiwe on the 21 October 1918 she was in perfect health bringing great joy to her parents and grandmother.
Even after Albertina’s mother survived the flu she was constantly ill and physically weak. Given his wife’s condition, Albertina’s father decided that his family should stay at the Mnyila family household in Xolobe while he was away working on the mines. Albertina started school in a local primary school in Xolobe that was run by Presbyterian missionaries and it is here that she had to choose a Christian name from a list presented to her by the missionaries. Nontsikelelo chose the name Albertina, her family continue to call her Ntsiki, but she was known as Albertina at school and later the name Albertina Sisulu would become synonymous with the Freedom Struggle in South Africa.
Within her extended family Albertina was the eldest of eight girls and it was her responsibility to take care of the younger girls. Even from a young age Albertina showed strong maternal instincts, and this continued throughout her life. Her leadership qualities and maternal instincts underlined the respect she earned during the struggle when she was referred to as the ‘Mother of the Nation’. Albertina excelled at school in cultural and sporting activities and she showed leadership skills at an early age when she was chosen as head girl in standard five. However, Albertina was forced to leave school on several occasions to take care of her younger siblings (because of her mother’s bad health) and this resulted in Albertina being two years older than the rest of her class in her last year of primary school. Although at the time this did not seem a major inconvenience, later when Albertina entered a competition to win a four year high school scholarship this counted against her as she was disqualified from the prize even though she had come in first place. Angered by the unfair treatment (the competition rules had set no age limit on the prize) Albertina’s teachers wrote to the local Xhosa language newspaper, Imvo Zabantsundu, making a strong case for Albertina to be given the prize. Fortunately for Albertina the article caught the attention of the priests at the local Roman Catholic Mission who then communicated with Father Bernard Huss at Mariazell. Father Huss arranged for a four year high school scholarship for Albertina at Mariazell College. The Mnyila family was very happy and celebrated Albertina's achievement with the entire village, Albertina recalls that the celebration saying “you would have thought it was a wedding”.
In 1936 Albertina left for Mariazell College in Matatiele in the Eastern Cape and although very nervous she was excited to find that a local girl from Xolobe was a prefect at Mariazell. The school's routine was rigid and strict, pupils were woken up at 4am to bath and clean their dormitories, they would then proceed to the chapel for morning prayers. Although Albertina’s scholarship covered her board and lodging, she had to pay it back during the school holidays by ploughing the fields and working in the laundry room. Albertina only went home during the December holidays but she found this a small price to pay for the opportunity to attend high school.
With high school ending in 1939 Albertina had to decide what she would do after school. She decided that she would not marry but rather become a working professional so that she could support her family back in Xolobe. Whilst at Mariazell Albertina had converted to Catholicism and because she had resolved never to marry she decided that she would become a nun as she admired the dedication of the nuns who taught at the college. However, Father Huss advised Albertina against this as nuns did not earn a salary nor did they leave the mission post, so she would not have been able to support her family in the way she wanted to. Instead he advised her to consider nursing, as trainee nurses were paid to study. Attracted by the practical solution nursing offered Albertina took his advice and applied to various nursing schools. She was accepted as a trainee nurse at a Johannesburg “Non-European” hospital called Johannesburg General. After spending Christmas with her family in Xolobe she left for Johannesburg in January 1940.
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