'That was a great moment': Durban memories of meeting Her Royal Highness

It was a fleeting moment when seven-year-old Mbali Ntuli handed a bunch of flowers to Queen Elizabeth II in 1995, but the memory came up when the monarch died this week.

Ntuli had won her school’s oral competition, which scored her the opportunity to give the queen flowers at Greyville Racecourse in Durban.

“My class was given a task to speak about leaders and what they do. I can’t recall whether they knew Queen Elizabeth was visiting South Africa or not, but I recall us learning about her. I did my oral on Nelson Mandela, who I had learnt about from home, and Queen Elizabeth,” she said.

When it came to upholding what she thought was her duty to her nation, she did her job and country proud

—  Mbali Ntuli

“My oral was chosen as the best and some time after that I was told that as a prize I would be giving flowers to the queen when she came to Durban.

“I was so excited I hardly slept the night before. On the day it rained quite hard and so the queen wasn’t able to meet everybody in a walkabout. I was instructed to quickly hand over the flowers and then to rush back to where there was shelter.

“It was fleeting but it was great to have had the opportunity.”

Ntuli, a former DA KwaZulu-Natal MPL, said in the mind of a child, the only real reference she had for the monarchy was fairy tales. “So I imagined she was like that and that she led her people well and did good things for her kingdom. I was more proud that I had won best oral.

“I think insofar as her legacy, she will be rightfully judged — as will her ancestors — for presiding over and benefiting from one of the most brutal campaigns of terror against First Nation people in over 90% of the world. Colonialism is a wound that still festers in my country and has infected every part of our identity as we try to forge our own path, which was interrupted by British brutality.

“Queen Elizabeth did benefit and continued to represent her nation, which owes its success to colonialism. However, 70 years spent doing one job and dedicating one's entire life and identity to it is a feat few people are capable of.

“It says something for her strength of will, to have been so long in a position of power, but never going beyond the boundaries or what she could conventionally do, and also maintaining dignity — even though, as a human, there must have been many instances where she would have wanted to voice her opinion on the issues or personalities of the day. That discipline is admirable.

“I also think that when it came to upholding what she thought was her duty to her nation, she did her job and country proud,” she said.

Ntuli added that the queen was one of two monarchs she grew up with, “so it feels like an end of an era having lost the Zulu one now, too.”

You couldn’t help but feel really encouraged after meeting her, which was a tremendous trait that she had. That was a great moment

—  Tom Hewitt, founder and CEO of Surfers Not Street Children

Tom Hewitt, founder and CEO of Surfers Not Street Children, was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire from the queen in 2011. He fondly remembers an earlier meeting with the British monarch in 1999.

Hewitt's organisation transforms the lives of street children through mentorship, surfing and care in conjunction with social workers. Speaking from Devon in England on Friday where he is raising awareness of his project, Hewitt told the Sunday Times the queen met with him during her visit to Durban.

“I was so blown away by how kind she was, but also how well-researched she was. Her researchers had obviously looked up the work that I was doing, but for her to have known it so well ... The questions she asked me were really interesting and caring.

“You couldn’t help but feel really encouraged after meeting her, which was a tremendous trait that she had. That was a great moment,” he said.

Hewitt was saddened to hear of her death.

“It comes as shock. I think people assumed she would live on. Across the board in the UK, whether people were supporters of the monarchy or not, there is an absolute respect for who she was and the role she played as a stable and dignified leader.

“It is a big moment in the UK. She was loved.”