Nelson Mandela, My Neighbour
Told by the Ndlovu family — neighbours of the Mandelas on Vilakazi Street since the early 1950s.
My grandparents and the Mandela family have been neighbours since the early fifties. Nelson Mandela eloped from his homeland, Transkei — running away from a forced marriage — and settled in Alexandra. Once qualified as a lawyer, he moved to Westcliff, also known as Orlando West.
I suppose he might have got his house through the influence of Walter Sisulu, whose house was at Phomolong, some blocks away from Mandela's house. My grandfather settled here after the Second World War.
Evelyn, Mandela's first wife, had three children — Thembekile, Makgatho and Makaziwe. When Mandela got married to Winnie, Ndaba did not take well to the news and moved to stay with his paternal grandmother, and later to Cape Town. He died in a car accident thereafter.
Nelson Mandela's mother and sister used to visit Orlando West during winter and autumn. In summer, they would be ploughing at harvest and would bring them mealies and some fruit. They would share with my family whatever they had brought. Their arrival would be known — they'd be fetched from Orlando Station, back when the train was known as isitimela sasemaMpondweni.
They would stay for a month or two, and unfortunately their visits stopped once Nelson divorced Evelyn. As the Ndlovu family, we understood the reason for the separation — politics.
No. 8115 was a centre of meeting places. Twice a week there would be a meeting at Mandela's place.
Mandela, Sisulu and Nokwe were the three musketeers. Sisulu would be the first to arrive, just in time for a meeting; Duma Nokwe would arrive just in time too, in his blue Buick. Very little is said about the latter, though he was an advocate by qualification.
After their meetings, Nelson would jump our dividing chicken fence into my grandparents' yard. He would spend up to three hours writing notes, having left strict instructions at his own house not to be disturbed. One surmises the notes were intended for ANC president Chief Albert Luthuli — this was after the Sharpeville shooting and the declaration to form Umkhonto we Sizwe.
Neighbours settle in
My grandparents and the Mandela family settle blocks apart in Orlando West.
The meetings
Mandela, Sisulu and Nokwe meet twice weekly at No. 8115 — and Nelson writes late into the night next door.
A shared birth
My father is born; two weeks later, Zenani — Winnie and Nelson's first daughter — is born. Gifts are exchanged.
He remembered
Released from prison, Mandela did not forget my grandparents.
When the security police's vigilance on Mandela's house intensified, his mother and the children were moved to a safe place.
Indeed, there was a search of Mandela's home. My grandmother, fearing the search would extend to our home, instructed my uncle to put the books in a coal sack and bury them underground. Those books were eaten by the soil.
In short, when Mandela was released from prison, he did not forget my grandparents.
We still honour it — every Mandela Day, and every tour.
We share this history carefully: not as a museum label, but as a personal story connected to a real place and a real community. When you walk Vilakazi Street with us, you're not getting a script — you're hearing what our family actually remembers.
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