THE POWER OF FOOD

Convergence and Divergence about food in Mandela’s autobiography and Brand’s Memoir.

Two weeks ago, I was very excited to share with you a summary of a book, “Doing

Life with Mandela: My Prisoner, My Friend” by Christo Brand with Barbara Jones

which was gifted to me by my cousins, Junior and Lystra Boyce. On their last trip to

South Africa, they had met the author, Christo Brand and had the opportunity to

interact with him. Junior described Mr. Brand as “a cool and warm fellow” and said

that it was a joy to have an audience with him. On completion of the memoir, I

decided to go back to finish reading Nelson Mandela’s “Long Walk to Freedom” and

the academic in me whispered that I should triangulate the accounts in both books

as it relates to food only, given this platform. There are few books written on the role

of food in Mandela’s life and the most renowned account is Anna Trapido’s “gastro-

political biography” entitled “Hunger for Freedom: The Story of Food in the Life of

Nelson Mandela.” I have not yet seen a comparison of Mandela’s and Brand’s

accounts of food in the literature on Mr. Mandela’s life journey so this article should

be considered a “nascent contribution.”

It is really prudent for both books to be read in tandem. While Mandela presents his

own life story about his 27 and a half years in the Robben Island prison and later in

Pollsmoor Prison and his fight in the anti-apartheid struggle, Brand gives concrete

and humanizing vignettes that corroborate and colour Mandela’s account. Even

though their perspectives were different, Mandela was a prisoner and Brand was one

of his warders, Mandela recognized the occasional humanity of some warders and

acts of kindness mattered. Ironically, Brand sometimes felt like a “sufferer” too as he

wrote:

“ My own personal prison – the single warders’ quarters – was 20 minutes

walk away from Mandela and his in the B section” (Brand, pg 77).

It is not my intention to dwell on the racism that existed in the prisons with respect to

the rations that were given to the African prisons as opposed to the Coloured and

Indian prisoners. Obviously, it existed and was prevalent and both men converged

on this issue. One of Mandela’s biggest struggle, while imprisoned was that of food

equality. It was used as a form of bribery on the one hand and on the other hand, it

was a form of punishment. So powerful was food, in that, the deprivation of the

prisoners’ meagre daily entitlements, was used as a weapon to punish them. In his

own words, Mandela wrote that:

“In isolation…one received only rice water three times a day for three days. (Rice water is simply water in which the rice had been boiled). In comparison, our normal ration of pap seemed like a feast.” Mandela, pg 415

Brand wrote:

“The racial discrimination extended even to food allowances” Brand, pg 55

I would like to focus on the convergence of the authors’ stories about what the

prisoners actually ate, grew and cooked. In his book, Brand’s references to food are

countless. He talked about food when the prisoners were in Robben Island as

compared to when they were transferred to the Poolsmoor Prison and enjoyed better

quality fare. Their “prisoner categorization” would have also improved from “Section

B” to “Section A” and they were given more entitlements. Mandela also said that he

knew when the International Red Cross officials were expected to visit the prisoners

as he wrote:

“One day in the summer of 1965, we discovered some fat glistening on our porridge at breakfast and chunks of fresh meat with our porridge at supper…All of us were suspicious, no improvement happens without a reason. A day later we were notified that the International Red Cross would be arriving on the following day.”Mandela, Pg 409

Below, I will share some of the descriptions of the food that was distributed to the

prisoners by both authors for you to see the similarities:

Breakfast

“…12 ounces of maize meal porridge with no sugar and salt for breakfast, and a mug of black coffee.” Brand, Pg 55

“Breakfast consisted of mealie pap porridge, cereal made from maize or corn,,,” Mandela, Pg 392

Lunch

“…For lunch the prisoners got samp – mealie – meal (corn) with a meat sauce on top, or something resembling meat. They would have a mug of tea with powdered milk and a little sugar.” Brand, Pg 58

“For Africans, lunch consisted of boiled mealies, that is , coarse kernels of corn. The Indians and Coloured prisoners received samp or mealie rice, which consisted of ground mealies in a souplike mixture. The samp was sometimes served with vegetables whereas our meals were served straight. For lunch we often received phuzamandla, which means “drink of strength”, a powder made from mealies and a bit of yeast ” Mandela, Pg 392 - 393

Supper

“…Supper was about 4 p.m. It was porridge again same as in the morning…

as well as a watery African drink….” Brand, Pg 63

“ Precisely at 4:30…supper had been delivered. We again received mealie pap porridge, sometimes with an old carrot or piece of cabbage or beetroot thrown in –, but one usually had to search for it. If we did get a vegetable, we would usually have the same one for weeks on end, until the carrots or cabbage were old and moldy and we were thoroughly sick of them” Mandela, Pg 393

“…supper of cold porridge” Mandela, pg 343

Brand also gave additional references to food in his book and some of these

accounts are shared below:

“Mandela would also work in the little garden he had made…

he managed to grow a peach tree, which bore fruit.

He even planted carrot seeds and people would bring him tomato seeds...” Brand, Pg 57

“…We would agree that in return for our (warders) one day’s fishing we would bring back some of our fish to the kitchen for it to be cooked for them. We had a good relationship of give and take.” Brand, Pg 59

“His (Mandela’s) favourite biscuits were the popular South African

Ouma rusks, to dip in tea or coffee.” Brand, Pg 65

“…lawyers could sometimes smuggle some food in...samosas… fruit…Mandela told me excitedly how he had had his first banana for 15 years” Brand, Pg 93

In addition, Mandela also made other references to food when he wrote:

“He (a warder) brightened at this and said he would return in a few minutes with tobacco and sandwiches” Mandela pg 344

When Mandela and the other Rivonia trialists were transferred to the Pollsmoor

Prison, Brand gave the following accounts:

‘…Mandela grew tomatoes, onions, and aubergines. He tried to grow mealies – the maize corn that made pap, the African staple diet… He was a good gardener. He would send shiny purple aubergines down to the kitchen to be baked with meat and made into stew…a bunch of spinach down to the kitchen .” Brand, Pg 125

“…the way he chewed his chicken bones after a meal… He ate steamed fish or chicken most days… Mandela also made his own cottage cheese. .. He took big pieces off and ate it on bread with Aromat, a salty seasoning.” Brand, Pg 126

“…It was wholewheat, something Mandela had never seen before.

He ate it and enjoyed it.” Brand, Pg 127

“…He always wanted the muesli rusks.” Brand, Pg 128

“…at Pollsmoor. Mandela and his comrades at last had plentiful food and healthy activities to fill their days.” Brand, Pg 131

“…I used to buy him Cadbury’s milk chocolate slabs in the supermarket with his money...” Brand, Pg 138

“…I had started buying their chocolate and biscuits and sometimes fruitcake for them in the supermarket…Mandela especially had a very sweet tooth.” Brand, Pg 144

In the same vein, Mandela wrote:

“…As awaiting trial prisoners we were entitled to two half hour visits a week and one meal a day could be sent from an outsider. I soon gained back my weight with Ms. Pillay’s delicious dinners.” Mandela , Pg 353 - 354

Mandela was reverently called “Amandla”, followed by the popular call and response

“Ngawethula” - “Power” and “Power Is Ours!”, He was one of the greatest leaders

that have ever walked this earth and he will continue to be remembered for

generations. My friend June, gifted me with a painting of Mr. Mandela and I am

reminded every day of the awe-inspiring impact he made on the world. He was an

authentic leader and one of the tenets of his leadership was gratitude. Gratitude in

leadership is an essential and intentional practice that builds trust, strengthens team

relationships, and fosters positivity. Mandela proactively acknowledged all of the

persons who showed him acts of kindness, both small and large. He clearly

understood the power of food! As Brand wrote:

“Mandela was in hospital for eight days, and he certainly had plenty to think about. But typically , he asked me to buy chocolates for all of the staff, and he wrote individual

Notes of thanks to each nurse” Brand, pg 151

In summary, the both books converge in many ways regarding food. Food has

power! Finally, a commonality in both works is the message of hope as Mandela

wrote:

“But I always knew that some day I would once again feel the grass under my feet and walk in the Sunshine as a free man” Mandela, pg 391.

So the next time that you are about to put a morsel of food in your mouth, think about

its power - The Power To Change!