DEPENDING on which side of the fence you are on, Winnie-Madikizela Mandela, who has passed away in Johannesburg after a long-term illness, was a unifier-cum- liberation icon, if not one of the most divisive figures of her time. She had supported calls for Zuma, dogged by scandals, to step down.
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She said they would want some members of the African National Congress’ women’s league to attend and give testimonies about the late anti-apartheid activist’s life.
On Monday, Ramaphosa praised Madikizela-Mandela as “an advocate for the dispossessed and the marginalized” and “a voice for the voiceless”.
Born in 1936, Madikizela-Mandela trained as a social worker, and according to Blackpast.org, she was notably the “first qualified black medical social worker” at the Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg.
As the violence of the apartheid authorities reached new intensity, Madikizela-Mandela was drawn into a world of internecine betrayal, reprisals and atrocity. “Despite controversies surrounding her life and career, Winnie Mandela’s unwavering commitment to ending apartheid and securing Nelson Mandela’s freedom is recorded in history”. That is why she is known as the “Mother of the Nation”. But where Mandela has been deified, she has been vilified.
Madikizela-Mandela had an uncanny ability to put her suffering into words; to take her pain and use it to fuel her activism.
But who was the real Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela?
The SABC reported that the abaThembu clan had said it was ready to bury Madikizela-Mandela in Qunu.
In 2003, she was found guilty of theft and fraud over bank loans. And I can be better because she did.
The video above, from the 1980s, shows the ferocity and passion with which she championed her cause. She was one of the country’s greatest icons in the struggle against apartheid. The following year, Nelson Mandela announced publicly that the couple had separated.
“I was married to the ANC”. In a moment of reflection, she once said, “there is nothing the apartheid government has not done to me”. She stood up to the powerful racist and facist apartheid octopus whose tentacles of oppression stretched far beyond the borders of her native South Africa.
Prime Minister Holness added that Winnie Mandela is immortalized in the Jamaican socio-cultural consciousness with songs and stories about her life and struggles. “Winnie is someone I respect highly”, Machel once said.
Such a funeral is declared for persons of extraordinary credentials specifically designated by the President of South Africa, said Cyril Ramaphosa. But her popularity among South Africans remained strong. The convicted murderer, Jerry Richardson, claimed that Winnie had ordered the attack, and she was sentenced to six years in jail on charges of kidnapping and accessory to assault.
“Mandela did go to prison and he went in there as a burning young revolutionary”. We should look up to her contribution to fight against patriarchy, whenever it shows up.
The extraordinary life you led is an example of resilient fortitude and inextinguishable passion that is a source of inspiration to us all of how to courageously confront challenges with unwavering strength and determination. “He agreed to a bad deal for the blacks”.
Memorial services would be held at different places, including at provincial level countrywide.
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“I told him a few home truths”. Political parties from across the spectrum and supporters continued to visit her Soweto home in Orlando West on Wednesday to pay tribute to the woman known as “mother of the nation”.
