It was Dr Neil Mac Vicar of Lovedale, who tested the water for nurse training. First he awarded “Leaving Certificates” to his young protégés until he became thoroughly convinced that black inferiority was a social myth.

The Victoria Hospital was his training base. This hospital, together with the Lovedale Institution and Fort Hare University, formed a triangle of educational campuses around the Tyhumie River in Alice, Ciskei (1:58). Neil Mac Vicar knew that he was swimming against the tide but he began to prepare his trainees professionally with great determination.

The very first girl to pass was Miss Cecelia Makiwane, the daughter of a Presbyterian Minister at Mac Farlane Mission about 12km outside Alice. Her passing of the state examination caused an international stir so great that – like Florence Nightingale – she began to ail. It is very likely that she could not understand the fuss or the backdrop against which it was played off.

Miss Makiwane’s health began to decline as the pressure took its toll on her apparently frail young body. She was given indefinite sick leave. Her father decided to send her to Johannesburg to the home of Professor Jabavu and his wife, who was her sister. In that house a warm and caring atmosphere was created, close relatives and friends tiptoeing in and out of her room, overcome by her great fame. Unfortunately she never recovered. Death came at a very young age.

Cecelia Makiwane’s achievement deserved all the acclaim it got – first registered nurse, first black to pass the state exam. Many years later this was forgotten by the matrons and nurse administrators who avidly testified to black inferiority for the Nursing Act of 1957.

Cecelia’s achievement could also be viewed as outstanding against the social background of the rural area. Her great fortune was having a progressive father who valued education. Her eldest sister had become famous too, as the first African woman to have matriculated with mathematics as one of her subjects.

Today Miss Makiwane stands immortalised by:

A Statue in the hospital grounds where she trained.

The Cecelia Makiwane Medal of Honour for the “African Nurse of the Year”. A hospital – Cecelia Makiwane Hospital – was named after her, putting her name on the lips of generations to come ( 1:52 ).

IN THE AFTERMATH OF CECELIA MAKIWANE’S SUCCESS

To the enquiring contemporary mind a niggling question persists. Why did the simple fact of a young girl passing the state examination become an event that rocked the world off its early century moorings? Could it be that across Europe Blacks were simply not perceived as equal to Whites?

This is very possible judging by the words (as quoted) of Cecil John Rhodes who said, “I contend that we are the finest race in the world and that the more of the world that we inhabit, the better it is for the human race. Just fancy those parts at present inhabited by the most despicable specimens of human beings. What an alteration there would be if they were brought under Anglo-Saxon influence.” ( 2:45 ).

One great thing that Miss Makiwane’s success did was to prove to South Africans and the missionaries from other lands that black inferiority was a concept invented in Europe. She turned a wrong belief on its head. Yet this was not openly admitted. Not a single hospital would accept black nurses for many years to come. In 1916 Miss F.E. Shepherd from England submitted a proposal for midwifery training at the St Monica’s Home in Cape Town. The Colonial Medical Council accepted her proposal on the proviso that the courses be presented by a medical doctor. As a consequence Dr Simpson Wells was invited to instruct student midwives.