‘Feisty, fearless’ Winnie mourned by millions
TRIBUTES continued to pour in for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela yesterday‚ as church leaders and politicians recalled how she was unafraid of controversy – taking on many causes during the anti-apartheid struggle and even challenging the two presidents who succeeded her former husband, Nelson Mandela.
Cricket South Africa and the Premier Soccer League joined the chorus of mourning.
Madikizela-Mandela, 81, died on Monday after a long illness. The PSL said a moment of silence would be observed at all matches until her funeral.
President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed a memorial service on April 11 and an official funeral on April 14 “in honour of a patriot and citizen who served our nation and humanity at large with distinction during our liberation struggle”.
He said the funeral would include military ceremonial honours and he ordered that national flags be flown at half-mast during a period of official mourning until after her burial.
Cricket SA president Chris Nenzani said: “Mama Winnie Mandela devoted her life to the struggle‚ shaping the lives of numerous political heroines and crafting a political legacy that carries on today through many who admired her. She played a pivotal role in the fight for equality and her spirit of resilience will be sorely missed.
“During her time as a political stalwart‚ and in the values she instilled in her family‚ Mama Winnie created a legacy of greatness in African leadership that still resonates today.”
Nelson Mandela’s widow, Graca Machel‚ in a statement issued in her ca-
pacity as chairwoman of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust‚ along with fellow chairpersons Judge Yvonne Mokgoro and Phuthuma Nhleko from the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital‚ celebrated MadikizelaMandela “as one of the women who stood when no one else would”.
From the 1960s‚ “until the end‚ you remained an activist and like many of us‚ a prisoner of hope‚ who believed in the realisation of the dream that is the ‘rainbow nation’,” they said.
“In as far as you challenged us and forced us to confront our bitter realities, we are thankful.
“In as far as you provided counsel to political leaders‚ making them see beyond limited party interest, we have been strengthened.
“In as far as you stood with those who remain marginalised even as we seek the new nationhood, you are our conscience.”
EFF leader Julius Malema said MadikizelaMandela should have been president of the country.
“Winnie Mandela [was] a stone that was rejected by the builders,” Malema said outside her house in Orlando West‚ Soweto, yesterday.
“Winnie Mandela‚ the president we did not have – who was denied to be president on the basis that she is a female and African.”
Malema was accompanied by EFF leaders including Dali Mpofu‚ Godrich Gardee and Floyd Shivambu.
“We have lost a fearless fighter‚ a giant and a mother of the nation – a title which was bestowed on her by the people of South Africa,” he said.
“They declared her a mother of the nation – a position you don’t get elected to. You earn the title through the struggles you wage with your people.”
DA leader Mmusi Maimane said: “We join the African continent and freedom lovers all over the world in mourning the passing of a true freedom fighter and an iconic South African.
“She stands as a bright light that shone a way forward for many others.”
Retired Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane paid tribute to Madikizela-Mandela’s commitment to the poor.
“At the time of the imprisonment of much of the leadership of the anti-apartheid movements on Robben Island and in exile‚ she fearlessly took on the role of being the voice of the voiceless‚” he said.
“Her feisty spirit was such that not even the cruelty of the apartheid government in banishing her to house arrest in Brandfort could break her resilience and opposition to the government of the day.”
In 2016 and 2017‚ Madikizela-Mandela was reported to have said at various points that then president Jacob Zuma should step down to restore confidence in the ANC.
She was particularly critical of corruption sinking the country.
Ndungane recounted a personal memory showing she was also unafraid of disagreeing with former president Thabo Mbeki.
“I have abundant memories of her forthright personality and her determination to protect the marginalised of society.
“So it was that [she] played a leading role in the 13th International Aids Conference in 2000 in Durban‚ at the height of the Aids denialist movement‚” he said.
“Not long before President Thabo Mbeki had scolded delegates for closing their minds to questions about HIV and Aids‚ Mama appeared in an ‘HIV-positive’ T-shirt‚ demanding treatment for the 4.2 million South Africans living with the virus.
“[She] was never afraid to be controversial in her advocacy for the vulnerable‚ describing the annual death from HIV/Aids at the time as a ‘social holocaust’‚ and accusing the government of betraying the people . . . becoming obedient servants to multinational pharmaceutical companies.
“Although Mama Madikizela-Mandela made some well-documented errors of judgment during her life‚ she remained committed to the vulnerable and was often the first at the scene of a tragedy to provide comfort and compassion,” Ndungane said.
Zwelinzima Vavi’s South African Federation of Trade Unions said it had lowered its flags in Madikizela-Mandela’s honour.
“She was a woman revolutionary‚ who was never prepared to be just Nelson’s wife but [was] a fearless fighter‚ moulded in the struggle against apartheid and a role model for women today,” Saftu said.
“She will always be an inspiration for future generations of women revolutionaries.
“Mama was no angel‚ just like everyone else‚ but she will always have a very special place in the hearts of millions.”