Tributes pour in for quiet activist Epainette Mbeki

Nomaka Epainette Mbeki, who has died at the age of 98, was highly respected for her social activism and development work even in her old age.

Popularly known as MaMbeki, the mother of former president Thabo Mbeki refused to live the VIP lifestyle her family had access to, choosing to remain among the poor in Idutywa in the Eastern Cape .

MaMbeki helped to establish several development projects in Idutywa, such as the Khanyisa beadwork project, which sustained the art of traditional African beadwork and provided much needed jobs for 24 women in her village of Ngcingwana.

She also set up the Nomaka Mbeki Technical Senior Secondary School and owned the Goodwill Trading Store, a grocery shop next door to her home, where she did her own book-keeping.

Although the state assigned two police officers to guard her house, neighbours and visitors came in and out as they pleased, and MaMbeki was always there to welcome them.

Born in Mount Fletcher in the Eastern Cape on February 16 1916, Nomaka Epainette Mbeki was the sixth of seven children in her family and went on to qualify as a teacher at Adams College outside Durban.

MaMbeki had not made many public appearances recently, but she did accept a request from Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema to visit her home two months ago.

MaMbeki welcomed Malema, who was accompanied by a media contingent.

"I'm very pleased that Juju is here and I'm sure the youth is also here," she told her visitors after Malema had apologised for insulting her son.

MaMbeki had developed a reputation as a staunch critic of the ANC and its leader, President Jacob Zuma.

When her son was removed from office in September 2008, MaMbeki was the first prominent individual to support the formation of an ANC splinter party - the Congress of the People - labelling the initiative a "first-class idea".

"I personally buy into the idea. I support it 100%," she told the Daily Dispatch in 2008.

"I will leave the ANC and join the new political party, because we have suffered as people a lot in the way Thabo has been treated," she said.

"We have been dismayed by this [the removal of Thabo Mbeki]. We feel deserted and alienated."

MaMbeki eventually joined COPE and was one of the few prominent party members who remained after the exodus of party leaders before this year's elections.

Even though MaMbeki was critical of Zuma and his party, the Presidency and Luthuli House were among the first to convey their condolences to her family.

Zuma, through his spokes-man, Mac Maharaj, called her a "consummate activist" and acknowledged her contribution to the liberation struggle: "Words are not adequate to explain the sad loss of this mother of our nation. We wish to express, on behalf of the government and all South Africans, our deepest condolences and the nation's solidarity with the Mbeki family at this hour. May her soul rest in eternal peace."

ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said MaMbeki's death had made South Africa "poorer".

"The collective of the ANC bows its head in honouring our mother, our stalwart and heroine. To the Moerane and Mbeki family, we say your loss is our loss and in your grief we share."

Aziz Pahad, a close friend of Thabo Mbeki who served three terms under him as deputy minister of foreign affairs, hailed MaMbeki yesterday as a selfless leader who struggled for decades on her own while her late husband was imprisoned on Robben Island.

"Like many other exiled families, they never had a full family relationship ... She struggled where she was living. She never sought to move out of the rural areas where she was. She was in touch with the people," said Pahad.

"I think she symbolised a leader of a movement that thought of the people first and themselves second."

DA leader Helen Zille said MaMbeki would be remembered for her courage during the dark days of apartheid.

"MaMbeki will be remembered for her dedication to community development through the establishment of an Aids hospice and various support initiatives for farmers in the Eastern Cape's Idutywa district, where she chose to spend most of her life," said Zille.

"Through the sentencing of her husband, Govan Mbeki, in the Rivonia Trial, MaMbeki knew first-hand the pain and injustice the apartheid state inflicted on so many South Africans. She will be remembered for her bravery and activism during this dark chapter in South Africa's history."