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Top 10 Interesting Facts about Evelyn Mase

Sisulu wedding with Mandela and lembede by Unknown Arthur/

Evelyn Ntoko Mase, later named Evelyn Rakeepile, was a South African nurse. She was the first wife of the anti-apartheid activist and the future president Nelson Mandela.

She may have been averse to being in the public eye, particularly as she was not involved, and had no desire to be. in political activities.

In 1954, Mase became involved in the Watch Tower organization as a Jehovah’s Witness, which is a denomination of Christianity.

Nelson Mandela shared with his first wife, Evelyn, a passionate commitment to a cause, Evelyn, who has died aged 82, was a Jehovah’s Witness with no interest in politics.

1. The exquisite marriage between Nelson Mandela and Evelyn Mase

Nelson Mandela married Evelyn Mase, a cousin of his political mentor Walter Sisulu, three years after arriving in Johannesburg to avoid an arranged marriage in the rural region of the Eastern Cape.

He was 26 and she was 22, they were married for 13 years. During much of that time, her nurse’s salary supported the family while Mr. Mandela pursued his law studies.

Together they had four children. The death of their second child aged nine months had a devastating effect on Evelyn, who became more religious.

It was a bitter end to the marriage, and Mr. Mandela returned home on bail after his arrest on treason charges to find she had moved out.

2. The astonishing Mase was an orphan she moved to Johannesburg to be a nurse

Born in Engcobo, Transkei, Mase was orphaned as a child. She moved to Johannesburg to train as a nurse, and there met and married Mandela.

Living together in Soweto, they raised four children, three of whom Thembekile, Makgatho, and Makaziwe survived into adulthood.

She trained to be a midwife while working as a nurse. In the 1950s, her relationship with Mandela became strained.

They were married for 13 years. During much of that time, her nurse’s salary supported the family while Mr. Mandela pursued his law studies.

3. Interestingly there were relationship issues Mandela’s affairs caused a divorce with Evelyn Mase

Divorce by Eric Ward/

Evelyn said the cause of their divorce was Nelson’s affairs with an office secretary and with a glamorous young Soweto social worker, Winifred Nomzamo Madikizela.

Winfred later became Mr. Mandela’s second wife, Winnie Mandela, he sued for divorce.

Evelyn granted his request on condition that she gained custody of the children and moved away with the children.

They separated in 1956. She initially filed for divorce but did not go through with the legal proceedings.

In 1958, Mandela, who was hoping to marry Winnie Madikizela, obtained an uncontested divorce from Mase.

Five years after Mr. Mandela was sentenced to life in prison in 1964, their eldest son Thembekile died in a car crash.

4. The interesting Nelson Mandela’s first wife’s L-shaped house fell into ruins

The former home of Nelson Mandela’s first wife, Evelyn Mase has fallen into ruin. The house on the main street of Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape’s Intsika Yethu Local Municipality has been vandalized.

Mase lived in the modest L-shaped house from 1972 to 2004, when she died. The house is owned by the Mandela family.

She was Walter Sisulu’s cousin. She married Nelson Mandela in 1944. They divorced in 1958.

A devout Jehovah’s Witness, Mase moved to Cofimvaba where she opened a grocery shop and raised her children.

5. Evelyn Mase remarkably supported her family with her nurse salary 

Hospital by Hush Naidoo/

The two married in 1944 and while she worked, Mandela completed law school. She supported the family with her nurse’s salary while Mandela pursued his law education.

According to South African History Online, Mase was described as the emblem of a perfect wife well-behaved, quiet, and devoted to her family and husband.

Mase and Mandela had four children but when their second child died at just nine months old, Mase became more religious while Mandela got more into politics.

In 1954, Mase became a Jehovah’s Witness and had no interest in Mandela’s political activities.

6. Mase interestingly met Mandela through a family friend they got four children who all died

Family by Sarah Medina/

Mase, a Xhosa from the Transkei province met Mandela through family friends Walter and Albertina Sisulu,

She subsequently married him at the Native Commissioner’s Court after she moved to, Soweto in Johannesburg.

Two years after the marriage they got a Madiba Thembekile and Makgatho Mandela and two daughters both named Makaziwe Mandela.

All the children they got with Mase are dead with both daughters dying at the early ages of 9 months and the other when six years.

Thembi Thembekile the firstborn died at 23 years and Makgatho at 55, in 2005, Mandela came out to tell the world his second child with mase had died of Aids.

7. Unbelievably Evelyn Mase trained as a nurse fulfilling her late mother’s wishes

Evelyn trained as a nurse in the city’s non-European hospital at Hillbrow, fulfilling the wishes of her late mother that she would enter that profession.

There, she befriended Walter’s girlfriend Albertina, whom he met in the year 1941 and married in the year 1944.

Mase was a bridesmaid at the Sisulus’ wedding reception at the Bantu Men’s Social Centre.

Writing in his later autobiography, Nelson Mandela recounted that the Sisulus treated Mase as if she was a favorite daughter.

8. Interestingly Mase had six siblings three died in infancy her mother died 

Evelyn Mase was born in the year 1922 in Engcobo, Transkei. Her father died when she was a child and her mother was the second wife.

She had six siblings three died while still in infancy. Her mother died when she was 12 years and was left under the care of her elder brother Sam Mase.

A devout Christian, Sam had a close friendship with former schoolmate Walter Sisulu; they were cousins, as their mothers were sisters.

9. Mase later married the fascinating Simon Rakeepile retired Soweto Jehovah’s witness 

Marriage by Sandy Millar

Mase was later married to Simon Rakeepile, a retired Soweto businessman. The couple married in 1998.

He insisted that she took his surname, perhaps because he did not want to live under the shadow of the famous Mandela name.

In later years, Mase became a Pioneer, a position within the Jehovah’s Witness organization necessitating greater commitment to the religion.

10. The amazing Evelyn Mase suffered from respiratory illness and died 

Mase died in April 2004, having suffered from a respiratory illness. She was survived by Makaziwe and Makgatho, and by her second husband.

Her body was buried at West Park Cemetery. Mandela attended the funeral along with Winnie Madikizela and his third wife, Graça Machel.

In March 2009, the Soweto Heritage Trust opened the township home where Mandela and Mase had lived together as a tourist attraction named Mandela House.