SOUTH African anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died following a long illness.

Known to the world as the former wife of Nelson Mandela, her family said she died “peacefully” yesterday at the age of 81, having been in and out of hospital since the start of the year.

In a statement, they said: “Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was one of the greatest icons of the struggle against apartheid. She fought valiantly against the apartheid state and sacrificed her life for the freedom of the country. Her activism and resistance to apartheid landed her in jail on numerous occasions‚ eventually causing her banishment to the small town of Brandfort in the then Orange Free State.

“She kept the memory of her imprisoned husband Nelson Mandela alive during his years on Robben Island and helped give the Struggle for justice in South Africa one its most recognisable faces. She dedicated most of her adult life to the cause of the people and for this was known far and wide as the Mother Of The Nation.”

Obituary - Winnie Mandela, anti-apartheid campaigner and widow of Nelson Mandela

Mrs Madikizela-Mandela, a stalwart of the African National Congress (ANC) movement, was married to Mr Mandela - who went on to become South Africa’s first black president - from 1958 to 1996.

While he was in prison for much of their marriage, she took on a higher profile and an increasingly political role, partly due to harassment by the South African security police.

She was famously pictured holding her husband’s hand as he walked free from prison after serving 27 years and together, the couple were regarded as a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle.

But in later years, her own reputation became mired in controversy.

In 1991, she was given a six-year prison sentence - later reduced on appeal - for her part in the kidnap of four youths who were suspected of being police informers. One of the four - 14-year-old Stompie Moeketsi - later died of his injuries.

In 1992, she separated from Nelson and he sacked her from his cabinet three years later after allegations of corruption.

Then in 2004, she avoided prison when her appeal was upheld against a four-year jail sentence. The judge overturned a conviction for theft and handed down a suspended jail sentence of three-and-a-half years, saying the crimes were “not committed for personal gain” and there were mitigating circumstances.

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He said she had endured “a long and often difficult role in public life” and had devoted herself to “a greater cause than her own”.

The 43 charges related to loans raised fraudulently from a commercial bank for employees of the ANC Women’s League who did not exist.

Ultimately, Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was able to rehabilitate her political career, winning a seat in the 2009 elections.

Retired archbishop and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu last night praised her as a “defining symbol of the struggle against apartheid”.

He said: ”She refused to be bowed by the imprisonment of her husband, the perpetual harassment of her family by security forces, detentions, bannings and banishment.

“Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists.”

Energy Minister Jeff Radebe, reading out a statement on behalf of the family, paid tribute to “a colossus who strode the Southern African political landscape”.

He said: “As the ANC we dip our revolutionary banner in salute of this great icon of our liberation struggle. The Mandela family are deeply grateful for the gift of her life and even as our hearts break at her passing we urge all those who loved her to celebrate this most remarkable South African woman.”

Obituary - Winnie Mandela, anti-apartheid campaigner and widow of Nelson Mandela

Labour peer Peter Hain, who was born in South Africa and was a leading figure in the British anti-apartheid movement, Tweeted his support for Mrs Madikizela-Mandela.

He said: “She suffered so much bringing up her two girls when Nelson Mandela was in prison: beaten up banned banished to remote Brandfort harassed imprisoned. Fearless defiant in face apartheid state. Remember that when correctly criticising her rogue later life.”

Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr, the American civil rights figure, said on social media: “In the darkest hours of the struggle to free South Africa, with Nelson Mandela in prison, the face of hope and courage was Winnie Mandela. May she forever rest in power.”

British actor Idris Elba also Tweeted: “Rest in peace Mama Winnie. My heart is heavy right now. You lived a full and important life contributing to the liberation of a nation by force and actual activism. You will never be forgotten.”