Millions of South Africans prepared to say goodbye to anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela on Saturday as her emotionally charged official funeral began in Soweto, where she lived until her death on April 2 at 81.
Thousands of mourners packed the 40,000-seat Orlando Stadium in Soweto to bid farewell to the powerful figure who will be buried as a national hero, after lively debate over how she should be remembered.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s coffin receives a salute at her funeral service at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto, South Africa (Themba Hadebe/AP)
Often called the “Mother of the Nation” and “Mama Winnie”, Madikizela-Mandela fought to keep South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle in the international spotlight while her husband, Nelson Mandela, was imprisoned.
Condolences poured in from around the world in remembrance of one of the 20th century’s most prominent political activists.
Scene outside of #WinnieMandela 's home in Soweto Friday as South Africa prepares to say farewell to "mother of the struggle." #RIP #WinnieMandela #PUSHSouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/X3Roxf57Kt
— Rev Jesse Jackson Sr (@RevJJackson) April 13, 2018
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who was attending the funeral, said on Friday that Madikizela-Mandela was responsible for making the anti-apartheid movement “a global struggle”.
“She never stopped fighting. She never stopped serving,” he told reporters. “She never left the belly of the beast.”
Many memorialising Madikizela-Mandela have recognised her as a political force in her own right.
Mourners gather at the Orlando Stadium for the funeral of anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (Themba Hadebe/AP)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called her an “international symbol of resistance” whose extraordinary life had an impact on millions of people around the world.
“In apartheid South Africa, the combination of patriarchy and racism together meant that black women confronted enormous obstacles from the cradle to the grave – making her own achievements all the more exceptional,” he said at a memorial in New York on Friday, not mentioning Nelson Mandela at all.
The young Madikizela-Mandela grew up in what is now Eastern Cape province and came to Johannesburg as the city’s first black female social worker.
Not long afterwards, she met African National Congress activist Mandela and the couple married in 1958, forming one of the most storied unions of the century.
Nelson and Winnie Mandela at a London hotel in 1990 (Rebecca Naden/PA)
After Mandela was imprisoned, Madikizela-Mandela embraced her own leadership in the freedom struggle with steely determination and at great personal sacrifice.
For years, she was routinely harassed by apartheid-state security forces, imprisoned and tortured. In 1977, she was banished to a remote town to separate her from the heart of the movement she led in Soweto.
It took a toll. When Madikizela-Mandela returned from exile she became involved with a group of young men known as the Mandela United Football Club, who were widely blamed for violence in Soweto.
They were accused of the disappearances and killings of at least 18 boys and young men and the group’s leader was convicted of killing a 14-year-old boy, nicknamed “Stompie”, who was accused of being a police informer.
In 1991, a court found Madikizela-Mandela guilty of the boy’s kidnapping and assault and sentenced her to six years in jail.
A mourner at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s funeral service (Themba Hadebe/AP)
She appealed and was found guilty of being an accessory, and the sentence was reduced to a fine and a suspended prison term.
Madikizela-Mandela denied any knowledge of any killings.
Mandela divorced her in 1996, claiming infidelity and saying that after his release from prison, his wife made him “the loneliest man”.
Though she fought fiercely for democracy, Madikizela-Mandela floundered in a political career after the first free elections in 1994.
Mandela fired her as one of his deputy ministers and her stints as a lawmaker, a post she held until her death, were lacklustre.
At her official memorial service on Wednesday, family members and supporters defended her legacy against detractors.
“She gave everything she had,” said ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte. “For those of you whose hearts are unforgiving, sit down and shut up. This is our hero. This is our heroine.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here