Thousands say goodbye to ‘Mama Winnie’
MILLIONS of South Africans said an emotional goodbye to antiapartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at her official funeral yesterday, with supporters fiercely defending her complex legacy.
Thousands of mourners packed the 40,000-seat Orlando Stadium in Soweto to celebrate the powerful figure, who will be buried as a national hero, after lively debate over how she should be remem- bered after her death on April 2 at the age of 81.
Often called the “Mother of the Nation” and “Mama Winnie”, Ms Madikizela-Mandela fought to keep South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle in the international spotlight while her husband, Nelson Mandela, was imprisoned.
“Long before it was fashionable to call for Nelson Mandela’s release from Robben Island, it was my mother who kept his memory alive,” elder daughter Zenani Mandela-Dlamini said, as the audience erupted in cheers.
Many South Africans have stood up for Ms Madikizela-Mandela’s memory, against critics who have characterised her as a problematic figure who was implicated in political violence after she returned from years of banishment in a rural town. Condolences poured in from around the world in remembrance of one of the 20th century’s most prominent political activists.
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who attended the funeral, said on Friday that Ms Madikizela-Mandela was responsible for making the anti-apartheid movement “a global struggle”.
“She never stopped fighting. She never stopped serving,” he said.