Mother to mother: A wrenching tale of murder in South Africa

New Crisis, The, Sep/Oct 2000 by Hoyte, Janessa

A Wrenching Tale of Murder in South Africa

South African writer Sindewe Magona bases her first novel, Mother to Mother, on the real-life murder of Amy Biehl, an (idealistic, young, white American slain in South Africa in 1993 by a group of apartheid protestors. Mother to Mother attempts to explain the brutal killing.

The novel starts off by captivating the reader with forceful words, but later loses its strength.

In this fictional narrative, Biehl's murder is blamed on one young man, Mxolisi, whose mother, Mandisa, narrates the story. The book begins with Mandisa saying simply to Biehl's mother in a letter: "My son killed your daughter."

Mandisa attempts to explain the reasons for the murder, the chaos and anger that stirs in the hearts of the youths involved in killing Biehl. Mandisa begs forgiveness and understanding for the act of her son, whose soul was long lost.

The novel's first three pages contain Mandisa's letter to Biehl's mother and are the book's most powerful. The letter provides a startling look at the heart of a grieving mother who also has lost a child, though not in the same way. The next 200 pages are much different. After briefly describing the events leading up to the white woman's death, novelist Magona tells the story of the people of Guguletu, the small, desolate community where Mandisa raised her children amid many hardships.

Mxolisi is Mandisa's first and favorite son. He is the one who is most dear to her heart and, subsequently, the one who breaks it beyond repair: "He who was first upon my nipple. He who came unbid; bringing a harvest of shame to my father's house. Bitter tears to a proud mother's heart."

The story tells of Mandisa's childhood, how Mxolisi was an unexpected child who turned her life upside down from the moment she discovered at the age of 15 of his existence in her belly. Her plans to continue her schooling came to an end: "My very life came to an abrupt halt... Everything I had ever known had been bulldozed, extinguished, pulverized."

Mandisa tries to explain to Biehl's mother: "From the beginning, this child has been nothing but trouble. But you have to understand my son. Understand the people among whom he has lived all his life."

Though Magona writes the novel from the perspective of Mandisa, the voice and opinion of the South African author can clearly be seen. She expresses great anger toward whites and apartheid in words unlikely to come from a poorly educated, South African mother.

Mandisa's entire village was relocated to Guguletu when she was a little girl. And after giving birth to Mxolisi and his brother and sister, Mandisa's life grew even more difficult. She had no control over her children. On an average morning when Mandisa goes to work, she gives specific instructions to her children, knowing she will be ignored: "I hastily throw out a couple of reminders, not that I think this makes any difference to what will actually happen. But, as a mother, I'm supposed to have authority over my children."

Mxolisi drops out of school at a young age, just as his mother had. He joins the "No Education Before liberation" movement, a group that walks the streets of Guguletu in protest They hold rallies and boycott their classes to make their voices heard. Mandisa observes bitterly: "These tyrants our children have become, power crazed, at the drop of a hat, they make these often absurd demands on us, their parents."

Mandisa wants her children to be obedient, but she has no control over them, like many of the parents in her community. Instead, the children rally, demanding that their elders join them in protest.

The day that Biehl ventures into the community of Guguletu is recounted with great suspense at the beginning of the novel. And her death at the hands of Mxolisi and others is heartbreaking: "The unforgiving moment. My son. Blood pounding in his ears."

Mandisa tries to get Amy Biehl's mother to understand that her son, who stabbed the young white woman to death, is also a victim, the product of the life and environment he was born into. She says: "The crowd cheers my son on. One settler! One bullet! We had been cheering him on since the day he was born. Before he was born. Long before."

Mandisa's pain is felt strongly throughout the novel. And because of her son's actions, she becomes an outcast in her own community, though any of her neighbors could have suffered the same fate. Mandisa writes to Biehl's mother: "Now, since your daughter's death, I have been called mother to so many more: Mother of the beast. Mother of the serpent."

Sindewe Magona's effort to explain the murder of Amy Biehl through the eyes of the killer's mother is creative. However, the body of the novel lacks clarity There is a strong beginning and a strong ending, but the middle, the history of Mandisa's childhood and Mxolisi's youth, is not as powerful as the rest of the story.

At times, the voice of Mandisa is lost amid the recounting of the history of apartheid and those living in Guguletu. The author does not explore Mxolisi's psyche. A more effective story would delve into Mxolisi's personality and soul and explain how he interacted with his mother. That would make the story complete. Mxolisi's hardships need to be detailed more thoroughly to enable the reader to better relate to the story.