Angelina Ruth Boniswa “Nomfimfi” Pityana lost both her parents at a young age and she had the responsibility of supporting her siblings through school. Family circumstances were such that she was not able to further her education at the time, and with the difficulty of employment during the war years, she worked in Port Elizabeth as a domestic servant and as a factory worker.

 

Deciding that she wanted to make a career of nursing, Angelina Pityana began her training and eventually become one of the first two qualified black tutors at the Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth.  She later became Principal Tutor to open the Cecilia Makiwane Nursing College at Mdantsane and helped to turn this institution into one of the largest nursing colleges in South Africa.  She stands out with many nurses of the older nursing generation who did not see nursing as merely a job, but regarded it as a calling to assist other human beings.

 

She has been very active in her work for Alcoholics Anonymous and caring for the aged and was instrumental in establishing the first old age home in the townships - Ekuphumleni Home for the Aged in Zwide Village.  She served as the first warden/matron of the home until she retired in 1993.  As a long-standing member of the Anglican Church, she was appointed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to serve on the Provincial Commission on the Pastoral Care of the Clergy. 

 

She had received several awards for her contributions to the nursing profession and to the community amongst others, by the South African Council for the Aged to mark the International Year for Older Persons in 1999, as “acknowledgement for outstanding services over many years to older persons in South Africa”.

 

Mrs Pityana died on 2 February 2008 after a short illness following a brain haemorrhage. She is survived by her sons Barney, Lizo, Sipho, ten grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. 

For being a role model for courage, humility and human dignity, not only to her own family, but the generations of people who were touched by her,  Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University is indeed proud to present the Council Prestige Award to the late Angelina Pityana.