I'm Doing It For Mothers

This single mom has hauled Mbuso Mandela to court because she’s determined to do right by their young daughter.

- Kaizer Ngwenya 

IT’S an all-too-familiar sight in towns and cities around South Africa, where nearly 50% of households are run by single mothers: an anxious young mother sitting outside the courtroom, waiting for her child’s father to pitch up for a maintenance hearing.

The mother we’re talking to today saw her child’s father spend a fortnight in prison earlier this year for not attending a maintenance hearing and, she claims, it’s been a year since he’s paid any maintenance for their three-year-old.

But while Gugu Keswa’s struggle might be common, her child’s lineage isn’t. Her little girl is Nelson Mandela’s greatgranddaughter. And her father is Mbuso Mandela – son of Madiba’s son Makgatho, who passed away in 2005.

Gugu (29) and Mbuso (26) have been at each other’s throats over child support for the past two years. Now the family court in Joburg will be investigating whether Madiba’s estate can be held responsible for child support as Mbuso claims he’s broke and unemployed.

Gugu and Mbuso met six years ago when she was a dancer at a Sandton nightclub. At the time she was also trying to make it as a singer and had been working with veteran musician and producer Sello “Chicco” Twala.

After the child was born, Mbuso denied he was the little girl’s father and insisted on a paternity test – which proved he was indeed the father.

In the beginning Mbuso saw his baby regularly and paid R4 000 a month in maintenance. When that dried up Gugu took him to court to force him to pay and “things started fizzling out” between them, she says.

“He hasn’t seen his daughter for months,” says Gugu, a dance instructor and artistic director at Ballex Dance & Entertainment, which specialises in events management and creating exotic costumed themes for functions.