Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

The Honourable
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
OLS MP
Mandela in 1996
Member of the National Assembly of South Africa
In office
9 April 2009 – 2 April 2018
In office
April 1994 – 2003
ConstituencyEastern Cape
Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology
In office
11 May 1994 – 31 August 1996
PresidentNelson Mandela
MinisterBen Ngubane
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded by
2nd President of the African National Congress Women's League
In office
1993–2003
Preceded byGertrude Shope
Succeeded byNosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula
Personal details
Born
Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela

(1936-09-26)26 September 1936
Mbizana, Cape Province, Union of South Africa
Died2 April 2018(2018-04-02) (aged 81)
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Resting placeFourways Memorial Park Cemetery
Political partyAfrican National Congress
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1958; div. 1996)​
Children
Residences
Alma mater
Occupation
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Winnie Madikizela-Mandela OLS MP (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936[1] – 2 April 2018),[2] also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She served as a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2003,[3] and from 2009 until her death,[4] and was a deputy minister of arts and culture from 1994 to 1996. A member of the African National Congress (ANC) political party, she served on the ANC's National Executive Committee and headed its Women's League. Madikizela-Mandela was known to her supporters as the "Mother of the Nation".[5][6]

Born to a Xhosa royal family in Bizana, and a qualified social worker, she married anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg in 1958; they remained married for 38 years and had two children together. In 1963, after Mandela was imprisoned following the Rivonia Trial, she became his public face during the 27 years he spent in jail. During that period, she rose to prominence within the domestic anti-apartheid movement. Madikizela-Mandela was detained by apartheid state security services on various occasions, tortured,[7] subjected to banning orders, and banished to a rural town, and she spent several months in solitary confinement.[8]

In the mid-1980s, Madikizela-Mandela exerted a "reign of terror", and was "at the centre of an orgy of violence"[9][10] in Soweto, which led to condemnation by the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa,[11][12][13][9] and a rebuke by the ANC in exile.[14][15] During this period, her home was burned down by residents of Soweto.[16] The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) established by Nelson Mandela's government to investigate human rights abuses found Madikizela-Mandela to have been "politically and morally accountable for the gross violations of human rights committed by the Mandela United Football Club", her security detail.[5][17] Madikizela-Mandela endorsed the necklacing of alleged police informers and apartheid government collaborators, and her security detail carried out kidnapping, torture, and murder,[18][19][9] most notoriously the killing of 14-year-old Stompie Sepei[5][20][21] whose kidnapping she was convicted of.[22]Dd

Nelson Mandela was released from prison on 11 February 1990, and the couple separated in 1992; their divorce was finalised in March 1996. She visited him during his final illness.[23] As a senior ANC figure, she took part in the post-apartheid ANC government, although she was dismissed from her post amid allegations of corruption.[10] In 2003, Madikizela-Mandela was convicted of theft and fraud, and she temporarily withdrew from active politics before returning several years later.[3][4]

  1. ^ Winnie Mandela. nndb.com
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference death was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Butcher, Tim (25 April 2003). "Winnie Mandela given five-year jail sentence". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  4. ^ a b "Jacob Zuma set for presidency". Brandsouthafrica.com. 7 May 2009. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Lusher, Adam (2 April 2018). "From 'Mother of the Nation' to 'mugger': The turbulent life of South Africa's Winnie Mandela". The Independent.
  6. ^ "10 Powerful Quotes By Winnie Madikizela-Mandela". WaAfrika Online. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  7. ^ Beresford, David; Vat, Dan van der (2 April 2018). "Winnie Madikizela-Mandela obituary". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference charleneSmithConscienceMercury was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference moruduBliveAccountability was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b Pillay, Verashni. "Five times Winnie Mandela has let us down". Mail and Guardian.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference latimesUdfDisown was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Dlamini, Penwell (16 April 2018). "Isolating Madikizela-Mandela was not my decision alone' says Mufamadi". Times Live.
  13. ^ kyle (22 February 2016). "Statement by Mass Democratic Movement on Winnie Mandela". South African History Online. Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference nyTimesShedGuards was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ "What ANC said about Winnie, MUFC and Stompie at the time". Politicsweb.co.za. 12 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and the ghosts of crimes past". Politicsweb.co.za.
  17. ^ "Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report, Volume Two, Chapter 6 (pp. 543–82): Special Investigation: Mandela United Football Club" (PDF). 29 October 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
  18. ^ Trewhela, Paul (6 April 2018). "The moral problem of Winnie Mandela". Dailymaverick.co.za.
  19. ^ Tay, Nastasya (12 March 2013). "Bodies exhumed in ANC 'murder' case linked to Winnie Mandela". independent.co.uk.
  20. ^ Wet, Phillip De (15 March 2013). "Bodies probably won't bury Winnie". Mail&Globe.
  21. ^ Malone, Andrew (27 April 2003). "Rough justice for Winnie's victims". The Guardian.
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference reutersTarnished was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Smith, David (6 December 2013). "Nelson and Winnie Mandela's marriage ended, but the bond was never broken". The Guardian.