In turn the Magistrate had to refer the matter to the security police. In African cultures, extended family (i.e. The people who we would normally spend the day with were not there. "You know what it means to be a midwife? During this time, she kept Walter up to date with family matters, writing to him constantly about their children’s school achievements. Albertina’s financial woes continued throughout the 1960s as she struggled to afford her children’s schooling in Swaziland, but she said that she would rather struggle than subject her children to Bantu education. [8] He also announced that Sisulu would receive a state funeral, and that national flags would be flown half-mast from 4 June until the day of her burial.[9]. The apartheid state was partly to blame for this as it had circulated fake UDF pamphlets in Soweto that incited anti-AZAPO sentiments. You have got to carry a big suitcase full of bottles and for your lotions that you are going to use, and bowls and receivers, and we used to carry those suitcases on our heads," she said. As leader in charge, Albertina also maintained that it was vital that FEDSAW communicated and sought the council of women in exile. He was their main contact with the ANC leadership in Lusaka and after he opened a new factory and Albertina was unsure where he had managed to get the money. Linden, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, State of Emergencies being called during 1985, Albertina Sisulu Multipurpose Resource Centre/ASC, ”I am Albertina Sisulu”, Interview from Blue Portraits, History of Women’s struggle in South Africa, The caring nature of Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu, Remembrance of Albertina Sisulu through the Work of Cartoonists, Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu’s “Mother of the Nation” Legacy, Albertina Sisulu and the organisations she was connected to. On 9 August 1956, Sisulu joined Helen Joseph and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn in a march of 20,000 women to the Union Buildings of Pretoria in protest against the apartheid government's requirement that women carry passbooks as part of the pass laws. Member – Federation of South African Women, South Africa The key state witness (a lecturer at the Rand Afrikaans University) eventually conceded that he had made ‘fundamental mistakes’ that could have misled the court and that he, contrary to what the Attorney-General had argued, had no expertise to assess revolutionary literature. But so was that other famous wife, Winnie Mandela. The 1956 women’s anti-pass protest was a historic moment for South Africa and women’s movements. The security police report used in extending Albertina’s banning order contained many fabrications, some of which were completely fantastical. Sabotage acts against the state, most notably the bombing of police stations, increased greatly as the ANC relied on its armed wing – Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) – to retaliate against police brutality and the murders of political activists. The march itself was phenomenal. Also, the section of the R21 e-toll Highway in Gauteng from OR Tambo International Airport in Ekurhuleni to its interchange with the N1 Highway in Pretoria is commonly called the Albertina Sisulu Freeway (labelled on road signage), indicating that the R21 from Pretoria to the airport and the R24 from there to Bedfordview are together known as the Albertina Sisulu Freeway[10] (The only alternative highway system between Pretoria and Johannesburg after the Ben Schoeman Highway). In addition to the constant surveillance, the security forces tried to break the nerve of political leaders using psychological tactics. Albertina always spoke highly of her employer, Dr Asvat who had continued to pay Albertina her salary whilst she was on trial and detained. The drought has been too much. Albertina’s trial date was set for the 17th October and she was denied bail. The Women's struggle 1900-1994. There seemed to be an unofficial policy of racial segregation amongst the staff of Johannesburg General as White nurses, regardless of age or experience, were treated and behaved as superior to their Black colleagues. They were on a fundraising trip to the USA, Ireland and the UK on behalf of Education Africa. Despite her concerns, Albertina was supportive of her daughter and did not patronise her during the political conversations they enjoyed. In 1983 Albertina was elected co-president of the United Democratic Front (UDF), and in June 1989, the government finally granted her a passport. In 1963 while he was awaiting the outcome of an appeal against a 6-year sentence, Walter decided to forfeit bail, and go underground. I think by next year we will have enough vegetables.