By Phillipa Anamaoh-
After suffering from a long illness, South-African anti-apartheid activist and politician Winnie Madikizela- Mandela passed away yesterday afternoon at the Netcare Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg. A family spokesperson Victor Dlamini confirmed early on Monday, “She died after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year. She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones”.
Her supporters knew Madikizela-Mandela as the ‘Mother of the Nation’ due to her political struggle against apartheid and white-minority rule. Many know and recognize Winnie as the former wife of South African revolutionary Nelson Mandela, whom she married at the age of 22. She was married to Nelson Mandela – the Nobel Peace Prize winner and icon of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle – for 38 years, with Mandela spending 27 of those years behind bars.
Yet, Madikizela- Mandela was in fact one of the biggest faces of the revolutionary movement, as she led protests against the apartheid regime throughout Mandela’s 27-year imprisonment. Amidst the atrocities of murder, imprisonment and exile, which heavily demoralized a multitude of members among the ANC (African National Congress), Madikizela- Mandela led an international campaign calling for his release and became Nelson’s vital connection to the outside world–travelling over 800 miles to inform him of the political shifts taking place in his homeland.
Current South African President Cyril Ramaphosa paid tribute to Winnie on a televised announcement stating:
“In the face of exploitation, she was a champion of justice and equality She as an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free.”
Outspoken, fierce and controversial, Madikizela- Mandela did not hold back in her defiance against the white-minority rule in South Africa. She endorsed the infliction of violence and brutality on those who posed a threat to the cause. Throughout the eighties, Madikizela-Mandela was involved in a series of scandals and controversies. In 1989, her bodyguard, Jerry Musivuzi Richardson confessed to her ordering the kidnapping four boys who belonged to another anti-apartheid party and were members of the Mandela United Football Club (MUFC), which was established by Winnie as a front for the gathering of local youths to stand against apartheid. The four child activists were taken to her home and severely beaten and one of the youths– 14 year-old Stompie Seipei body was later found with stab wounds to the throat in a field on January 1989. Madikizela-Mandela claimed that she had brought the teenager to her home because she believed that he was both a police informer and engaged in sexual misconduct with a Methodist minister–charges which are punishable by death.
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KIDNAP ALLEGATIONS
Denying any involvement in the death of Seipei, she was acquitted of all but the kidnapping in 1991 to which she paid a fine. It wasn’t until the ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ hearings in 1997 when Madikizela-Mandela claimed some responsibility for the death of Seipei by apologising to his mother for the loss of her son yet she retained her innocence, despite admitting to supplying the firearm used in the murder. In 1992, Madikizela-Mandela’s 38-year marriage with Nelson Mandela ended as they split two years before Nelson would become the first native African President of South Africa. During the divorce proceedings it was revealed that Winnie had never entered the bedroom whilst her husband was awake. Alongside these proceedings emerged the revelation of Winnie’s affair with South African lawyer Dali Mpofu who at thirty years old was almost half her age, was starting to enter the public sphere.
PARLIAMENT
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Despite the legal and personal issues, Winnie Mandela was elected into parliament in 1994 becoming the deputy arts and science minister within South Afirca’s first multi-racial government. Before this high achievement she had already also sky rocketed into the political sphere by becoming the president of the ANC Women’s League in 1993. Yet after only a year in Mandela’s cabinet, she was expelled in 1995. With a tainted legal and political reputation, Winnie was convicted of 43 counts of fraud and 25 counts of theft on top of accusations from the ANC of human-right abuses during apartheid. Allegations which would continue to tarnish political relationships with ANC presidents for the remainder of her life.
STRENGTH AND COURAGE
Winnie’s strength courage and radical passion towards the abortion of apartheid should never be forgotten yet her flawed character, rogue behaviour and violent means should also be remembered. At the time of her passing it is right and acceptable to honour her life and respect those of whom she sought to liberate and protect.
A memorial service will be held for Madikizela-Mandela next Wednesday on April 11th followed by an official funeral on April 14th.
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