Albertina sisulu biography history books pdf

Introduction

Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu (née Nontsikelelo Thethiwe) was one of the prominent anti-apartheid South African leaders, widely referred to as the “Mother of the Nation”. Albertina Sisulu was one of five children born to Bonilizwe and Monikazi Thethiwe in the Tsomo district in the Transkei on 21 October 1918.

She was a nurse, a political activist and council to her husband former Secretary-General and Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC), Walter Sisulu.

Early Life

In September 1918 the Spanish Flu, a strain of the influenza virus that had killed 40 million people worldwide, reached South Africa and is estimated to have killed over 30 000 people in the Transkei.

Monica Thethiwe (née, Mnyila), caught the virus and was seriously ill whilst pregnant with her first daughter and her second born, Nontsikelelo. “Umbathalala”, as the flu was called in isiXhosa, was lethal to pregnant women and small babies, however, bab Special Profile Albertina Sisulu - South African History Online VIKOV