In the passing of Winnie Mandela, the world has lost an iconic figure and one of South Africa’s colourful personalities who spent the better part of her life fighting against apartheid. No doubt, her status as the wife of the legendary Nelson Mandela won her global attention. But it cannot deter us from rating her as a formidable leader in her own right. Her relationship with Nelson Mandela —- universally acclaimed as a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle and as the Father of South Africa — became part of the South Africa folklore.
Winnie Mandela came to be loved as the Mother of South Africa on the strength of her own brave deeds. When Nelson Mandela was in jail for 27 long years, it was she who tirelessly and unflinchingly campaigned against the white minority rule. A firebrand with lots of courage, she bore the immense suffering she was subjected to with equanimity to advance the cause of liberation of the blacks — South Africa’s indigenous people and won unfeigned admiration. Admittedly, eyebrows were raised when she endorsed ‘necklacing’ — burning the betrayers of the anti-apartheid struggle by setting alight a tyre around their necks. A quintessential African woman, Winnie Mandela was looked up to as a feminist icon who was never afraid to speak her mind and always stood her ground against odds. Her passion for democracy remained undiminished till the last as was evidenced by her registering her name just a few days ago to vote in the next year’s election. Winnie Mandela will be remembered for her stellar role in the abolition of apartheid and the courage she epitomised in her life.