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| Winnie Madikizela-Mandela waves as she attends the 54th ANC national conference in Johannesburg on Dec. 16, 2017 (Mujahid Safodien | AFP | Getty Images 2017) |
Her family said she died
peacefully after a long illness for which she had been in and out of hospital
since the start of the year.
Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela, a former wife of South Africa's
first black president, Nelson Mandela, is
remembered as an anti-apartheid hero and a mother of the nation.
"Mrs
Madikizela-Mandela was one of the greatest icons of the struggle against
apartheid," a spokesperson for the family said.
"It is with profound sadness that we inform the public that
Mrs Winnie Madikizela-Mandela passed away at the Netcare Milpark Hospital‚
Johannesburg‚ South Africa, on Monday April 2 2018."
 |
| Mandela accompanied by his ex-wife Winnie walking out of Victor Verster Prison near Cape Town, a free man after 27 years of imprisonment (Photo taken from RedPepper) |
Local media in South Africa broke news of her death late afternoon on Monday.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu said Winnie was the defining symbol of the struggle against apartheid.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu said Winnie was the defining symbol of the struggle against apartheid.
“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,” Times Live quoted Tutu as
saying.
She is known to have kept alive the liberation
struggle while his husband and other African National Congress anti-apartheid
leaders faced lengthy jail terms under the apartheid regime.
His ex-husband, Nelson Mandela, died five years ago. He too, is renowned for uniting mixed-race South Africa
after years of brutality against the blacks by the country's white minority
rulers.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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