Evita and Zelda remember Madiba

Evita appeared on the night with her special guest, Zelda la Grange, who spent almost two decades as PA to Mandela. They reminisced about their days with the former State President.

Evita spoke about a time when she was talking with Mandela, when he waved her off and said: “Evita, give me another koeksister,” and, she admitted, that’s when he changed her life and the lives of everyone else in South Africa.

Zelda, who was born in Boksburg, spoke about her conservative upbringing in the north of Pretoria, thinking more or less the same as everyone – white fear and unaware of what was happening on the liberation struggle front.

Evita compared the liberation and start of a free South Africa with recent events, saying: “Gaza where is your Mandela; Israel where is your FW de Klerk.”

Zelda mentioned that she first met Mandela in 1994, and was very unsure about what she had become a part of.

“Mandela extended his hand, and he was speaking to me in Afrikaans, and I was shocked,”she said.

“His sense of humour captivated me – he found a way of bringing it into life; I later also met former President FW de Klerk.“He also loved to gossip in Afrikaans when we were in other countries.”

She remembers the moments they had with other leaders that were filled with tension.

“But Mandela was such a revered statesman, so he always found a way of making people feel relaxed in his presence, and always making jokes,”she said.

“He was quite a charmer with ladies and they reciprocated, telling him how much they loved him. He even called the Queen of England by her first name – Elizabeth.”

Evita added that Mandela had a message of hope and embrace and forgiveness.

“People remembered his energy and love,” she said.

Evita asked Zelda about her trip with Mandela to Saudi Arabia.

“What did you have to wear?” she pried.

“I had to wear the Abaya outfit. Ja, jy lyk soos ’n posbus, en mens sien net jou oë! What I realised, was that it didn’t matter what I was wearing underneath – you could go naked into the King’s palace – not that I did that!” she blushed, bringing the audience to a burst of laughter.

“It’s like the EFF with their red overalls, boots and hoedies,” Evita joked, adding: “But they have their Gucci underwear and Brightling watches underneath né!”

Zelda also spoke of a time when Madiba wanted people to plant trees at his house and her dad offered to help.

“I took a picture of the planting of trees and then told my dad how times have changed and that he is now working in a black man’s garden!” she said.