We shouldn’t abandon discussion out of tact because there is an idol we fear to debase. There can’t be any compromise when establishing a fact or proving a point. Some writers and commentators are "using words too loosely", to quote Malcolm X. They refer to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela as the "mother of the nation". Which nation? Besides this appellation being an obscenity, it is also a historical distortion. People such as Queen Manthatise of the Batlokwa, who fought wars against white settlers, deserve the title more. Remember Madikizela-Mandela’s notorious comment on necklacing? No white person was killed in that gruesome way — only Africans, especially from the Black Consciousness movement and the Pan Africanist Congress. An Azanian People’s Liberation Army cadre, Xola Tyamzashe, recalls that she terrorised the community in the area. To regard Madikizela-Mandela as the mother of the nation is an insult. She fell from grace for a reason, even though some don’t want to accept it. The...
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