Zelda La Grange was born in white South Africa in 1957, the daughter of a butcher and a teacher. During interviews, La Grange often admitted that she grew up feeling oblivious to the country’s political dynamics and was quoted as saying she was “unaware and uninterested in the political situation in the country; very comfortable in our own secluded life, very ­ordinary and very based on Calvinist Afrikaner values”.

To her, the name ‘Mandela’ meant very little. She only heard the word being used as a scare tactic by the media.

I may have heard the name around the State of Emergency and that he was imprisoned on Robben Island – but for what, I had no idea. He could have stolen a car, to be honest.

Several years later, and she was holding Mandela’s hand, whispering in his ear, accompanying him to voting booths, joining him on travels, acting as his spokesperson, his confidante, his right-hand woman.

For many political figures, celebrities, musicians and journalists, La Grange was the point of entry for anyone ­hoping to share a moment with Mandela.

She recalls the time they first met:

He started speaking Afrikaans to me . . . His Afrikaans was perfect, but I was in such a state that I didn’t understand what he was saying. I was shivering. I sent this man to jail. I was part of this, of taking a person like him, his whole life away.

And, in his usual Madiba way, Rolihlahla eased the tension with a well-timed quip.

This is not necessary, you’re overreacting a bit.

[Source : City Press]