Nomkhitha Virginia Mashinini (May 9, 1935 - September 25, 2008) was a South African apartheid detainee, the mother of political figure Tsietsi Mashinini, and a community worker. Early life Nomkhitha Virginia Mashinini was born on May 9, 1935, in Bengu, South Africa, a settlement near Lady Frere in the former Transkei. Her father, Daniel Boto, was of royal descent and an Imbongi for the royal court. He had fifteen children from his first marriage. After the death of his first wife, Boto married Olive Nontuthuzelo from the village of St Marks. Nomkhitha was their first child. Nomkhitha's brother Mark was born a few years later. The two siblings shared a very close bond. Their mother was often away during the weekdays since she worked as a teacher in a village beyond the average commuting distance. Their father was more involved in their upbringing, something which was unusual for most African families at the time. As a royal praise singer, Boto valued traditional Xhosa customs and instilled those values in Nomkhitha. Many would later trace the rhetorical skills of her son Tsietsi to Boto. Nomkhitha also had a Christian background, owing to her mother's Christian faith. She attended church in Lady Frere every Sunday. Education At the age of 13, Nomkhitha was sent to a boarding school for black girls in Mt. Author near Lady Frere, where she studied Biology, Geography, History, English and Arithmetic. Nomkhitha also played tennis, and was generally a very sociable child. She would return home during the Summer & Winter holidays. And her family would visit on their monthly trips to Lady Frere. Back then, there were only two professions open to black women: teaching and nursing. Nomkhitha decided to study nursing, intending to return to Bengu to practice there. After completing high school at the age of 17, Nomkhitha moved to Kliptown near Soweto to attend the nursing college in Baragwanath Hospital (now Chris Hani Hospital). While in Kliptown, she stayed with her Aunt Letitia in a two room rental. Her aunt was unwilling to lose Nomkhitha as a help in the house, so she falsely led her to believe that her applications to various nursing schools were rejected. Years later Nomkhitha would learn that some of the schools had actually accepted her. Marriage Nomkhitha met Ramothibi Joseph Mashinini in Kliptown, and they got married in 1955. Ramothibi was a devout Christian man who came