Leader of the African Radical Economic Transformation Alliance (Areta), Carl Niehaus, thanked his comrades, Nkosentsha Shezi and Dr Job Moganedi, who have taken time to comfort him as he mourns the passing of his mother, Magrietha (Maxie) Petronella Niehaus.
Speaking to The Star on Sunday, Niehaus said he is encouraged by messages of support from fellow comrades and other colleagues who have travelled from distances to show their support.
“I am hugely grateful for comrade and secretary of Areta, Nkosentsha Shezi and and DrJobMoganedi (TG of Areta), who came to pay their respects and condolences with the passing on of my Mother. Cde. Shezi flew all the way in from Durban. I am truly deeply grateful to everyone who visited and sent messages of condolences,” Niehaus said.
According to the political activist, Magrietha (Maxie) Petronella Niehaus (né Arlow) passed away on Friday, October 23, at about 11pm.
The 94-year-old died after a long unspecified illness while living at a retirement village in Johannesburg.
Niehaus said his mother, who was one of ten children, is survived only by her youngest brother, Koos Arlow, as well as her two children, himself and his sister Susanna Louisa Johanna (Sandra) Erasmus (né Niehaus) and five grandchildren.
Niehaus said he will remember his mother as a dedicated mother and wife and a true matriarch of the Niehaus family.
“She was truly the matriarch of the Niehaus family, and especially after her husband passed on seven years ago. She fulfilled that role with strength and dedication. She was the core that kept the family together.
“Maxie had a huge love for the arts and her Afrikaans culture. She read widely, and was a lover of Afrikaans poetry. She wrote poems herself and painted and made exquisite wood cutting and works of embroidery,“ he said.
He added that even though his mother was an Afrikaans woman through and through, over the years, since the passing of her husband, Carl ‘Kallie’ Niehaus, she had changed her views about the legacy of apartheid.
“However, after her husband Kallie passed on the 2nd of August 2016, she significantly changed her views about apartheid, and started to acknowledge that apartheid was wrong. She made every effort to repair the strained relationship with me, her oldest son, who was a liberation fighter in the struggle against apartheid.
In long conversations with me, she tried to understand my views, and acknowledged that apartheid was wrong, and apologised that her husband had thrown me out of the family home at the age of 18 years old, because of my anti-apartheid views,“ Niehaus said.
He said as her oldest son, he will miss his mother, who instilled a love for books and reading in him.
‘’As her oldest son, I will miss my beloved Mother deeply. She shaped me in so many ways and had a huge influence on my life. It was my Mom who encouraged me to read and who shared with me her great love for books and for literature. If it was not for her, I would not have developed the love for writing and public speaking,“ he said.
Niehaus said preparations for his mother’s funeral are still being made but indicated that she will be laid to rest at following her ceremony to be held at his mother’s retirement village in Mogale City, West Rand.
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