Father who cried freedom

November 8, 2004
Elinor Sisulu was studying in Amsterdam when she met Max, the exiled second son of jailed anti-apartheid activist Walter Sisulu.

Photo: Dominic O'Brien

Walter Sisulu was one of South Africa's great freedom fighters. His daughter-in-law Elinor was determined to ensure his legacy and sacrifice would continue to inspire a nation. Katherine Kizilos reports.

When Elinor Batezat met Walter Sisulu for the first time, the former secretary-general of the African National Congress was serving the 22nd year of a life sentence. Elinor found herself unable to speak to him because "try as I might I could not stem the flow of tears".

In her biography, Walter and Albertina Sisulu in our Lifetime, she writes: "When I had entered Pollsmoor (prison) on that morning in March 1986, Walter Sisulu was to me a legendary leader, one of the great fathers of African nationalism who had been in prison since 1964, when I was just six years old. Perhaps I had expected someone solemn and serious; instead I was overwhelmed by Walter's joyful exuberance - so incongruous given the bleak surroundings. I felt as if I had received a lesson in the triumph of the human spirit."

She visited Walter because she was engaged to marry his exiled, second-oldest son, Max. She and Max had met the year before in Amsterdam, where she was studying for a Master's degree in development studies, and when he was invited to address a meeting on South Africa at the Hague.

The impulse to write the book came later, after Elinor's marriage and Walter's release from prison. She wanted to write it because she was inspired by what she knew of Walter's life, but also because she wanted South Africans to have a record of what he and his wife Albertina had achieved. But the book is more than a biography. It is also, unavoidably, the story of the ANC's struggle to liberate South Africa from apartheid.

Walter Sisulu's life was intimately linked to the ANC's. He was born in 1912, the year the ANC was founded, and became secretary-general in 1949, the year the National Party put apartheid's statutory apparatus in place.


It was Walter Sisulu who recruited Nelson Mandela to the cause, and in 1963 it was Sisulu - a self-educated man who had not finished high school - who was chosen to be the chief defence witness in their treason trial.

He, Mandela and five others had been preparing for the death penalty, but six received life imprisonment (one was found not guilty). His fellow inmates said Sisulu remained optimistic, was cheerful and generous, and did not complain.

The extent to which he inspired his companions has often been acknowledged by Mandela who, in the foreword to the biography, acknowledges his personal debt to Sisulu. He writes: "If we as a liberation movement and a nation were to be given the choice of one life story to be told, that story would have to be Walter Sisulu's. In his life and the work of his life are captured and demonstrated the best, the noblest, the most heroic, the most deeply humane that our movement and our country represent and seek to represent."

It took Elinor Sisulu nine years to write the biography, which runs to 582 pages. She says she had no idea about the scope of the undertaking when she began her research.

"I knew (Walter and Albertina) were important, but I didn't appreciate the extent of their involvement," she says. "They had this belief that they could change the world. It has had a strong effect on me.

"When I was writing this book, I thought it was too much, the magnitude of this task. But Walter would say 'I have confidence in you' . . . It carried me through.

"He was a great believer in people. He was outward looking. Depressed people get down on themselves and when you are depressed you tend to be inward looking and worried about your own inadequacies.

"What I got from him was that he was always upbeat and always believed the best in people . . . and he did bring out the best in the people around him."

Elinor says Walter often appeared naive in his personal dealings - he would famously give money to whoever asked for it - but this open-heartedness did not affect his political judgements; he was a shrewd and effective operator with sound instincts.

One of the imponderables in his story is the extent to which he was sustained and strengthened by his enduring love for his wife; a love that did not waver during their long years apart. Elinor describes the bond between Walter and Albertina as "not something you see every day, two human beings so completely in tune with each other . . . by coming together they created something extra. It was something quite striking and people commented on it continually."

Before Walter's imprisonment, Albertina, a nurse, was involved in the women's network within the ANC. While Walter was in jail she did what she could to foster the work of the underground movement and to provide for her own family. For many years, severe restrictions were placed on her movements. She saw some of her children forced into exile while others suffered torture and imprisonment. Yet, like her husband, her own commitment was unwavering. In this way she also became a symbol of the struggle.

Walter died last year, the day before his 91st birthday. Elinor says she has been inspired by Walter and Albertina's example to do what she can to advance the cause of human rights in Africa. Her current visit to Australia followed a trip to New Zealand where she spoke to the International Bar Association Conference in Auckland as a representative for the Crisis Coalition for Zimbabwe.

The coalition represents non-government organisations and is "the major civil society voice in Zimbabwe now". Her subject was the soon to be enacted NGO Bill, which will make it illegal for human rights organisations in Zimbabwe to receive foreign funding; it will also require them to register with the government.

"They can, of course, be denied registration. This is a way of closing them down."

Elinor, who now lives in Pretoria with Max and their three sons, was born in Zimbabwe. Asked to give her views on Robert Mugabe's government, she says: "I have a tendency to get very depressed. The outlook looks quite bleak. But I have been working with some very extraordinary young people, some amazing Zimbabweans, and with people like that around the future has to be bright, there has to be change for the better."

Walter and Albertina Sisulu would be proud of her.

Walter and Albertina Sisulu in our Lifetime by Elinor Sisulu is published by Abacus.