‘During the night, police would come to our house just to taunt us’
Rainy Kelly at her home in Newcastlewest, Co Limerick. Rainy praises Nelson Mandela for giving her the freedom to travel to Ireland, where she would meet her husband Patrick.
Rainy Kelly recalls being woken at 2am to the terrifying sound of incessant banging and racial slurs, which were typical of apartheid police during her childhood in South Africa.
Now, almost aged 70 and living in Limerick, the native of Vosloorus, a township situated south of Boksburg, admits she is still haunted by their violent taunts.
“I can still picture them beating down the door, shouting “Kaffirs, Kaffirs” even though we were children who all had names. I hated that word.”
Such was her family’s distrust of white people at the time, Rainy never imagined she would fall in love and marry the man that she lives with in Limerick today. She describes Patrick as the love of her life but acknowledges that their relationship might never have been possible without the bravery of another great man — Nelson Mandela.
After his release from prison in 1990, Mandela headed negotiations to dismantle apartheid — and the racial abuse that people like Rainy suffered daily — and bring about multiracial elections in 1994. It was in these elections that he led the African National Congress to victory and became South Africa's first black president.
Nelson Mandela Day is celebrated on July 18 every year to mark the activist and former South African president’s birthday. And Rainy will be among the guests attending a Gala dinner in honour of her hero at the Galway Bay hotel later this month on July 26. Funds raised will go towards the Hand in Hand- Children’s Cancer Charity. The initiative is organised by Motsamai CLG, a non-profit organisation dedicated to celebrating Mandela’s legacy.
Ms Kelly said her life might look very different without Mandela.
“I came to Ireland 23 years ago to visit my cousin in Ennis. I was admiring perfume in a department store in Limerick when a stranger came up to me and asked if he could buy it for me. I laughed and said 'yes, of course.' He bought it for me there and then and we exchanged numbers.
"Patrick and I are 23 years together now and still very much in love. I have freedom of everything now and I praise Mandela for that.”
Despite now living the dream, Rainy’s life started off like a nightmare.
“We were a family of eight living in a two-bedroom house. Some of us slept on the floor of the sitting room. During the night police would come and say they were checking the registrar but we knew they were just there to taunt us. They did this while we were sleeping because tormenting us was their happiness.”
She laments that black people oppressed by the apartheid regime were like prisoners in their own homes.
“It was work or school and then home. Our lives had no quality. We weren’t allowed in restaurants. There was a KFC but each time a white person came in to eat we had to leave them go in front of us in the queue. It always ended with us giving up and going home. The public toilets all had 'whites only' signs on them so we weren’t allowed to use them. White children walking to school were always beautifully dressed while we had no shoes. That was just how it was back then.”
Rainy remembers the celebrations after Nelson Mandela finally walked free from prison in 1990.
“We found strength in each other knowing that Mandela was fighting for our freedom and equality. When he came back there was a difference. He taught us peace, forgiveness and togetherness. The conditions were better and we now had human rights.”
Rainy says that living under the apartheid regime meant her family were distrustful of all white people.
“After I got married I told my cousin to keep it under the radar. I just told my family I got a job in Ireland and that I was safe. Six months passed and I decided to go home with my husband. There was no happiness there when I told my family we had got married. All they could express was shock.
"My mother couldn’t believe that I had married a white man. I was asked if I thought this was the right way according to our culture. I had to explain to them that the Irish were different. They even gave us a helping hand when we needed it. My mother eventually adjusted and got used to it.”
She says times have thankfully changed since her own childhood.
“I can’t say I have forgiveness because the damage is done but I try not to acknowledge their existence now. My 16-year-old niece, Dcasor, lives with us and even though we try to explain to her what we went through, she really has no idea. It’s a completely different world now.”
To buy tickets for the 2025 Gala Dinner Honouring Nelson Mandela Day visit here
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
