Debate rages as controversial past also remembered

WHILE millions of people from around the globe have united to mourn the death of political stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela‚ some critics have focused on her chequered past.

It is no secret that Ma Winnie leaves behind a complex legacy.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings found that she had played a role in the murders of three young people‚ including Stompie Seipei‚ who were thought to be police informants.

In 2001, Madikizela-Mandela was charged and convicted on multiple counts of fraud and theft.

She was handed a 3½-year suspended jail sentence.

While her past is well documented‚ her fierce fight against apartheid and her contribution towards the liberation of black South Africans cannot be ignored.

As some critics chose to slam her, well-known figures including Siv Ngesi‚ Redi Tlhabi‚ Home Affairs spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete and former journalist Charlene Smith have defended her legacy.

“I will not spend next week defending Winnie Mandela against people who shout ‘Wouter Basson was a soldier‚ he was only doing his job [killing black people]. Move on!’ yet happily post Stompie’s picture. You suddenly care about black lives? You won’t move on but we must‚” Tlhabi said.

Ngesi stood firm in his support for Madikizela-Mandela and lashed back at the haters. “I love how we must forgive countless white murdering racists! But they want to trash queen Winnie Mandela! Many of you didn’t even know who Stompie was till yesterday! You fake bloody hypocrites,” he said.

Tshwete penned a heartfelt letter about how critics would point out that she was a “controversial” figure and try to take away from the sacrifices she made during the fight against apartheid. “To those who insist we recall her greatness alongside her imperfections‚ we shall remind them that she‚ like us‚ is a product of an enemy that made us more imperfect‚ more angry and more determined to no longer be products of its confine.”

He said her love for Africans was “undiluted”.

“When we lower her mortal remains we should remember what we are placing in the African soil is a seed‚ a seed that narrates that the children of Africa are unconquered still. This seed can only become the harvest of reconciliation through economic emancipation.”

Former journalist and published author Smith took to Facebook to put forward some facts and weigh in on the debate.