By MBALI TANANA and ERNEST MABUZA
Struggle stalwart Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 81, died yesterday after suffering from a long illness which saw her in and out of hospital several times since the beginning of the year.
She died at the Netcare Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday afternoon, Madikizela-Mandela’s stepdaughter, Makaziwe Mandela-Amuah, said the family was extremely pained by her passing.
“Death is something you just cannot get used to. Even if we know she was ill and in and out of hospital, we are still shocked by her passing.
“We are human, we have blood running through our veins too and it is a difficult time for our family.”
When asked about her last memories with her stepmother, Mandela-Amuah declined to comment.
The statement released yesterday from family spokesman Victor Dlamini said she had died in the presence of her family and loved ones.
“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.
Dlamini praised the iconic “mother of the nation”, as she was known, for keeping the memory of her imprisoned then-husband Nelson Mandela alive during his years on Robben Island.
“She helped give the struggle for justice in South Africa one of its most recognisable faces.
“She dedicated most of her adult life to the cause of the people.”
Dlamini said the Mandela family was deeply grateful for the gift of her life.
“Even as our hearts break at her passing, we urge all those who loved her to celebrate this most remarkable woman.”
Her PA‚ Zodwa Zwane‚ confirmed the struggle veteran’s death yesterday afternoon.
Born in Bizana in the Eastern Cape in 1936‚ Madikizela-Mandela moved to Johannesburg to study social work after matriculating.
She met lawyer and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela in 1957 and they were married a year later.
They had two children together.
However‚ her married life with Mandela was short-lived‚ as he was arrested in 1963 and sentenced to life imprisonment for treason.
Mandela was eventually released in 1990.
During Mandela’s time in prison‚ Madikizela-Mandela was not spared the reach of the apartheid forces. She was placed under house arrest and at one time banished to Brandfort‚ a town in the Free State.
In 1969‚ Madikizela-Mandela became one of the first detainees under Section 6 of the notorious Terrorism Act of 1967. She was detained for 18 months in solitary confinement in a condemned cell at Pretoria Central Prison before being charged under the Suppression of Communism Act of 1950.
In 1991‚ she was convicted of kidnapping and being an accessory to the assault of Stompie Seipei‚ a young activist who was killed by a member of her bodyguards‚ the Mandela United Football Club.
Madikizela-Mandela’s bodyguards had abducted Seipei‚ 14‚ in 1989‚ along with three other youths‚ from the home of Methodist minister Paul Verryn.
Her six-year jail sentence was reduced to a fine and a two-year suspended sentence on appeal.
Her marriage to Mandela began to flounder a few years after his release. The couple divorced in 1996‚ 37 years after their marriage.
After the first democratic election in 1994‚ Madikizela-Mandela became an MP and was appointed deputy minister of arts and culture.
She was fired by Mandela after an unauthorised trip to Ghana.
She had been an MP ever since‚ despite limited appearances in parliament in the past few years.
In 2016‚ she was conferred with an Order of Luthuli in Silver at the National Orders Awards ceremony for her contribution to the fight for the liberation of the people of South Africa.
Speaking at the press briefing at the Netcare Milpark Hospital, African National Congress chairman Gwede Mantashe said Mamu Mandela was one of the very few stalwarts the organisation had to guide them when they were falling off the rails.
“We send our condolences to both the Madikizela and Mandela families, who are bereaved at this time, and everyone else who is affected.
“We too as the ANC, the third family, are in mourning and we send our deepest condolences to the rest of the members of the party.
“She was one of a very few who would reprimand and tell us when we are doing things wrong and she would also applaud and say when we did things right.
“Her words of wisdom and guidance will be sorely missed,” he said.
Mantashe said the national president, Cyril Ramaphosa would personally visit the family to relay his condolences to the family at their family home.
Dlamini said the family would release details of the memorial and funeral services once they had been finalised. — mbalit@dispatch.co.za / TimesLIVE
Hamba kahle, Mama
Struggle stalwart Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 81, died yesterday after suffering from a long illness which saw her in and out of hospital several times since the beginning of the year.
She died at the Netcare Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday afternoon, Madikizela-Mandela’s stepdaughter, Makaziwe Mandela-Amuah, said the family was extremely pained by her passing.
“Death is something you just cannot get used to. Even if we know she was ill and in and out of hospital, we are still shocked by her passing.
“We are human, we have blood running through our veins too and it is a difficult time for our family.”
When asked about her last memories with her stepmother, Mandela-Amuah declined to comment.
The statement released yesterday from family spokesman Victor Dlamini said she had died in the presence of her family and loved ones.
“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.
Dlamini praised the iconic “mother of the nation”, as she was known, for keeping the memory of her imprisoned then-husband Nelson Mandela alive during his years on Robben Island.
“She helped give the struggle for justice in South Africa one of its most recognisable faces.
“She dedicated most of her adult life to the cause of the people.”
Dlamini said the Mandela family was deeply grateful for the gift of her life.
“Even as our hearts break at her passing, we urge all those who loved her to celebrate this most remarkable woman.”
Her PA‚ Zodwa Zwane‚ confirmed the struggle veteran’s death yesterday afternoon.
Born in Bizana in the Eastern Cape in 1936‚ Madikizela-Mandela moved to Johannesburg to study social work after matriculating.
She met lawyer and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela in 1957 and they were married a year later.
They had two children together.
However‚ her married life with Mandela was short-lived‚ as he was arrested in 1963 and sentenced to life imprisonment for treason.
Mandela was eventually released in 1990.
During Mandela’s time in prison‚ Madikizela-Mandela was not spared the reach of the apartheid forces. She was placed under house arrest and at one time banished to Brandfort‚ a town in the Free State.
In 1969‚ Madikizela-Mandela became one of the first detainees under Section 6 of the notorious Terrorism Act of 1967. She was detained for 18 months in solitary confinement in a condemned cell at Pretoria Central Prison before being charged under the Suppression of Communism Act of 1950.
In 1991‚ she was convicted of kidnapping and being an accessory to the assault of Stompie Seipei‚ a young activist who was killed by a member of her bodyguards‚ the Mandela United Football Club.
Madikizela-Mandela’s bodyguards had abducted Seipei‚ 14‚ in 1989‚ along with three other youths‚ from the home of Methodist minister Paul Verryn.
Her six-year jail sentence was reduced to a fine and a two-year suspended sentence on appeal.
Her marriage to Mandela began to flounder a few years after his release. The couple divorced in 1996‚ 37 years after their marriage.
After the first democratic election in 1994‚ Madikizela-Mandela became an MP and was appointed deputy minister of arts and culture.
She was fired by Mandela after an unauthorised trip to Ghana.
She had been an MP ever since‚ despite limited appearances in parliament in the past few years.
In 2016‚ she was conferred with an Order of Luthuli in Silver at the National Orders Awards ceremony for her contribution to the fight for the liberation of the people of South Africa.
Speaking at the press briefing at the Netcare Milpark Hospital, African National Congress chairman Gwede Mantashe said Mamu Mandela was one of the very few stalwarts the organisation had to guide them when they were falling off the rails.
“We send our condolences to both the Madikizela and Mandela families, who are bereaved at this time, and everyone else who is affected.
“We too as the ANC, the third family, are in mourning and we send our deepest condolences to the rest of the members of the party.
“She was one of a very few who would reprimand and tell us when we are doing things wrong and she would also applaud and say when we did things right.
“Her words of wisdom and guidance will be sorely missed,” he said.
Mantashe said the national president, Cyril Ramaphosa would personally visit the family to relay his condolences to the family at their family home.
Dlamini said the family would release details of the memorial and funeral services once they had been finalised. — mbalit@dispatch.co.za / TimesLIVE
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