More than just a cook or an award-winning author of culinary books, Zuleikha Mayat’s life’s journey remains an inspiration to all South Africans. 

On the front pages of Zuleikha Mayat’s iconic book, Indian Delights, reads a dedication that says: “This book is dedicated to all the husbands who maintain that the best cooking effort of their wives can never compare with what ‘mother used to make’.”

Clearly this clarion call to improve the cooking ability of the legions of wives, both young and old, has been resoundingly rewarded when one considers the mountain of copies Indian Delights has sold here in South Africa and worldwide.

Indian Delights, a book on Indian cookery, remains the best-selling book of any genre throughout South Africa, selling well over 500 000 copies. This bold claim is verily supported by the fact that this book remains well replenished on many bookstores some 58 years since it was first published in 1961.

The ability to cook well for one’s family remains a craft that when perfected brings joy that is beyond sensory. Precious mealtime with family during each day or during family gatherings on special occasions remains locked in our hearts for eternity. These times are made even more special when people remember how well mum prepared those delightful meals.

It is no surprise to know that Zuleikha Mayat’s Indian Delights has effortlessly spared the blushes of many mothers in ensuring the smiles of their families during mealtime.

More than just a cook or an award-winning author of culinary books, Zuleikha Mayat’s life’s journey remains an inspiration to all South Africans. This Saturday past saw Iqraa Trust honoured a sprightly 93-year-old Zuleikha Mayat.

Mayat was born in Potchefstroom in 1926 and completed Std 6 at the local Potchefstroom Indian government school. She was determined to further her education and completed the Junior Certificate and Senior Certificate via correspondence through Union College, passing with an exemption from the Joint Matriculation Board in 1945.

Mayat had to abandon her dream of becoming a doctor, but did short courses in Journalism. She married Dr GHM Mayat in 1947 and moved to Durban where she made her mark in a number of fields.

She was a founding member of the Women’s Cultural Group in 1954. This was a remarkable development in a society that was very conservative with regard to the involvement of women in the public sphere. Though membership comprised predominantly of Muslim women, the group’s membership was open to women across race, class and religious boundaries and did include women across race and religious boundaries, including African, European (White), Hindu, Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian members.

The group has proven to be a leader in many fields. It has acquired an international reputation for its iconic Indian Delights series of cooking books, which includes Indian Delights 1st edition 1961; Enlarged Indian Delights: 2nd edition: Super Indian Delights, now in its thirteenth impression; Best Of Indian Delights: Companion to Indian Delights (1988); and Treasury of South African Indian Delights (1999).

READ | Zuleikha Mayat, author of iconic cookbook Indian Delights, has died

Incredibly and unknown to many people, funds generated from book sales are used to provide bursaries to needy students annually, run soup kitchens for the poor, provide sandwiches to schoolchildren weekly, blankets to the poor in winter, host educational lectures, empower women (the likes of Minister Naledi Pandor amongst high profile South Africans who have inspired other women), host cultural events such as poetry recitals, and develop programmes to upgrade the skills (such as sewing programmes) of disadvantaged women in particular.

The bursary programme of the Women’s Cultural Group has been instrumental in helping countless students complete their education in a country where access to quality education comes at a high price. 

The loss of her husband and sister in the same car accident in March 1979 (partly because when they could not be treated at a nearby “white” hospital, only to be taken to a hospital for Blacks a long distance away) did not stop Mrs Mayat’s public and community work. If anything this seems to have spurred her on, and she plunged herself into community work and extended her activities.

The death of Mayat’s husband brought her into contact with Rivonia trialist and then Robben Island prisoner Ahmed Kathrada, who wrote a letter of condolence to Mayat’s brother Abdulhak “Bis” Bismillah, a former flat mate of Kathrada. This initiated a decade long correspondence with Mayat.

The 75 letters exchanged between Kathrada and Mayat focus on culture, politics and religion and were published as a book in 2009: Dear Ahmedbhai, Dear Zuleikhabehn: The letters of Zuleikha Mayat and Ahhmed Kathrada 1979-1989. The work has been very well received and is read internationally, and has been instrumental in making many people aware of the injustices and effects of apartheid on a day-to-day level.

Mayat was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Social Science by the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2012. As a founding member of the Women’s Cultural Group, as author, and as public activist, she has played a vital role in creating public awareness about a issues ranging from education to culture to religion, spear-heading various noble projects aimed at assisting the disadvantaged, uplifting the wounded spirits of her countrymen and women, and seeking to empower women in a society in which they are often subjected to double and triple forms of oppression because of their race, class and gender.

In paying tribute to his mother at the Iqraa Trust function, Aslam Mayet said: 

Our epic journey ends with a story that best encapsulates this motto. A young Hindu Information Technology-employed young man, visiting from London called us to relate his life journey. When his father died, his mother had to bring up five children, all-living in Chatsworth. 

With no means she cooked on the primus stove at home using Zuleikha Mayat’s Indian Delights as her only reference. He and his siblings delivered this food to people to make a living. That income saw all of them through university. All of them are successfully employed overseas. He just had to meet and take a “selfie” with this woman to whom his family owed so much!

Mum’s inspirational speech was about rising up to challenges placed in the days of your life. Unlike many widows, her life did not end when her husband died 40 years ago on 1 April 1979. She took stock, faced the challenge and strode forward valiantly.  If Islam demands a full and middle path balanced life, Zuleikha Mayat has lived this statement beyond reproach. A true South African Indian Delight.”

This article is republished from the 1860 Heritage Centre.