Struggle veteran? Me? Winnie miraculously sheds years
TERRY Pheto, you’ve got serious competition!
The 35-year-old bombshell actress was the spitting image of the young Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in June on the Johannesburg set of a miniseries about the life of Nelson Mandela.
Madiba is due to air next year, with Pheto playing the part of the beautiful woman who stopped Mandela in his tracks at a Soweto bus stop all those years ago.
Mandela is played by Laurence Fishburne.
And Mama Winnie proved this week that at 80 she’s still got it, sparking a frenzy on social media after showing off flawless, radiant skin at a party with family and friends in Cape Town.
Radio personality Gareth Cliff said on Twitter: “I can’t be the only one who thinks Winnie Mandela is the best looking 80-year-old in the world.”
Public relations expert Victor Dlamini said: “Suburban residents will be calling their doctors this morning [asking], ‘What is Winnie Mandela taking?’ ”
Others weren’t as convinced, suggesting the former first lady’s looks were due to cosmetic intervention.
On Twitter, Antieklimaks said “Winnie Mandela definitely had some good plastic surgery,” while @rinmor tweeted: “Botox and plastic surgery — simple.”
Guests at the birthday celebrations included Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille. Madikizela-Mandela turns 80 on September 26.
Pheto is the seventh actress to portray Madikizela-Mandela on screen. Naomie Harris appeared in Long
Walk to Freedom (2013) opposite Idris Elba; Jennifer Hudson took the role in Darrell Roodt’s 2011 film,
Winnie Mandela; Sophie Okonedo played Winnie for the 2010 madefor-television movie Mrs Mandela; Faith Ndukwana starred in Goodbye
Bafana (2007), about Mandela’s relationship with his prison guard; Tina Lifford featured in the 1997 film Mandela & De Klerk; and Alfre Woodard was Winnie in Mandela (1987), alongside Danny Glover as Mandela and John Matshikiza as Walter Sisulu.