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<p>This is the 25th year that the African National Congress governed South Africa. It&#8217;s also a hundred and seven years since Africa&#8217;s oldest liberation movement was born. But 2019 is also an election year and no better time for the party to look at itself and figure out exactly where it&#8217;s going. For more CNBC Africa&#8217;s Karabo Letlhatlha spoke to Somadoda Fikeni, Political Analyst at UNISA.</p>


ANC celebrates 107th birthday

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<p>A year ago today Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the 54th conference of the ANC as president. It’s been an uphill battle fighting corruption trying to unite a split ANC. CNBC Africa’s Karabo Letlhatlha has more.</p>


Analysts rate Cyril Ramaphosa’s first year as ANC President

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<p>The court has ordered that former President Jacob Zuma must pay his legal fees in his ongoing corruption case. This judgement comes after a group of opposition parties recently approached the court seeking an order forcing the presidency to stop paying his legal fees. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Karabo Letlhatlha attended court and filed this report.</p>


Court orders Zuma to pay his own legal fees in corruption case

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<p>Tony Walt, Chief Solutions and Operations Officer at Internet Solutions shares his insights into what measures the South African government should take to bring down high data costs.</p>


Internet Solutions’ Tony Walt on how to bring down SA’s high data costs

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<p>The Competition Commission&#8217;s inquiry into high data prices has left the telecoms sector at odds with various state entities. Submissions from various Mobile service providers are stubborn in saying that data prices in South Africa are competitive and that rates cannot be lowered due to cost factors.</p>


ANC outlines its position on data costs in SA

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<p>One of the leading lights of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has called on the press to leave the country’s finance minister alone. Speaking at the Luthuli House Party headquarters in downtown Johannesburg NEC member Fikile Mbalula made the statement as he was questioned whether the acceptance of finance minister Nhlanlha Nene’s resignation this week was decisive.</p>


Fikile Mbalula on Nhlanlha Nene’s resignation, Zondo Commission

<p>CAPE TOWN (Reuters) &#8211; President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday there was no reason to believe that any country would impose sanctions on South Africa over the government’s plans to redistribute land to address racial disparities in ownership.</p>
<p>Ramaphosa announced in late July that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) plans to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation, as whites still own the majority of South Africa’s land.</p>
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump waded into South Africa’s high-octane land debate last month when he asked his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to study South African “land and farm seizures” in a late-night tweet.</p>
<p>Some analysts have since speculated that Trump’s government could impose economic sanctions on South Africa to express its disapproval with the ANC’s land reform agenda.</p>
<p>“We have no reason to believe that any country would impose sanctions on South Africa for any actions that we take, actions that are constitutional, that are lawful and consistent with international law,” Ramaphosa said in parliament while answering a question from an opposition party on his government’s land reform plans.</p>
<p>Ramaphosa added that the government was ready to discuss its land reform plans with any country. He repeated that land reform would follow a parliamentary process and that the government would not tolerate “land grabs”.</p>
<p>Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Writing by Alexander Winning; Editing by James Macharia</p>


Will South Africa face sanctions over land reform? Here’s what Ramaphosa thinks…

<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Sunday labelled reports that top ANC officials, including former President Jacob Zuma and the party’s secretary-general, were plotting in secret to unseat Cyril Ramaphosa as party leader as “shameless gossip”.</p>
<p>The Sunday Times newspaper said earlier on Sunday that Zuma held a clandestine meeting with staunch backers including ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, former North-West premier Supra Mahumapelo, ANC Women’s league secretary-general Meokgo Matuba and ANC Youth league KwaZulu-Natal secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo on Thursday.</p>
<p>“The meeting is believed to have discussed a fightback strategy that involves court action to challenge the outcome of last year’s ANC national conference, which elected Ramaphosa party president,” Sunday Times said, citing witnesses and senior ANC leaders.</p>
<p>The paper said the first action from the group was a letter sent to Magashule on Wednesday from regional executive committees in the North West, challenging the ANC’s highest decision-making body for its decision to disband the Mahumapelo-led provincial executive committee.</p>
<p>In a statement, ANC spokesman Pule Mabe refuted the report, saying the ANC rejects attempts to link Magashule to the alleged plot to oust Ramaphosa.</p>
<p>“It is clear that this malicious gossip is calculated to cast aspersions on the integrity and commitment of our Secretary General to the unity and renewal project of the African National Congress,” Mabe said.</p>
<p>Ramaphosa narrowly defeated Zuma’s ex-wife and preferred successor, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, in a leadership vote at the party’s national conference in December. The ANC then ordered Zuma to step down as president in February.</p>
<p>Since taking office, Ramaphosa has been prioritising rooting out corruption as he strives to put the sluggish economy back on a sustained growth trajectory. Such measures led to the forced resignation of Mahumapelo as North West leader.</p>
<p>As bold as some of Ramaphosa’s decisions have been, he still maintains a cautious leadership style as he and some ANC officials know the power that Zuma loyalists retain within the ANC, Africa’s oldest liberation movement.</p>
<p>The ANC Women’s League also rejected the report, saying in a statement it will “defend the unity and integrity of the ANC.”</p>
<p>Reporting by Nqobile Dludla, editing by David Evans</p>


Are top ANC officials plotting to unseat South Africa’s Ramaphosa as party leader?

<p>By Gary van Staden, Senior Political Analyst at NKC African Economics</p>
<p>The decision – of which the legality is in dispute – by councillors and provincial officials in the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) Metro to remove Democratic Alliance (DA) Mayor Athol Trollip in a vote of no confidence on Monday, August 27, signals the end of the coalition experiment in South Africa’s municipal governments.</p>
<p>It failed for the reasons it usually tends to fail: the tyranny of minorities and the elevation of position and power over principle.</p>
<p>While the DA announced on Tuesday, August 28, that it intended to challenge in the courts what it called “a sham and a mockery and an insult to the voters,” the fact of the matter is that these battles tend to be fought on political terrain. Even if the courts overturn the decision and reinstate Mr Trollip it would only prompt an intensified effort to get rid of him, which will, at some point, succeed.</p>
<p>The African National Congress (ANC) has spent the past two years attempting to reverse its electoral losses in the NMB Metro as well as in the Tshwane (Pretoria) and Johannesburg Metros by repeated motions of no confidence and political shenanigans that show no respect for the will of the people.</p>
<p>The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who do not want to go into the general election next year as a friend of the DA, will do everything they can to put distance between themselves and the DA by trying to assist in the removal of all DA administrations for overtly political reasons.</p>
<p>We expect that the combination of the ANC and the EFF will eventually remove the DA-led administrations in both Tshwane and Johannesburg while both strenuously deny they are working together. (In both those metros, an ANC-EFF coalition would have the majority of council seats.)</p>
<p>The courts have still to decide on the legality of events in the NMB. The deciding vote was cast after the Speaker had been fired, to prevent him casting a decider in Mr Trollip’s favour, and the DA councillor who abstained to let the motion pass had supposedly been sacked by the DA’s Federal Executive Chair James Selfe in the hours before the vote, but was still counted as present, so the DA’s case may have some merit.</p>
<p>Still, the fact of the matter is that the residents of the Metro who roundly rejected the ANC in 2016 now have an ANC-EFF backed executive Mayor in Mongameli Bobani of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) whose party managed less than two percent of the popular vote in 2016.</p>
<p>The proud kingmaker EFF managed slightly better at 5.1% in 2016.</p>
<p>Mr Bobani then appointed his own Mayoral Committee that comprised mainly ANC members. An ANC member is now also Speaker. This new coalition – if it can hold – is not guaranteed a smooth ride and nor are the people of NMB guaranteed that the focus of their council is going to be on service delivery and governance. More likely it is going to focus on making sure the DA cannot manage to find a voice or two and bring its own motion of no confidence.</p>
<p>Senior officials from the mayor down will be constantly looking over their shoulders for the next attempt to unseat them. So much for governance.</p>
<p>The next target, as the EFF and its allies have already made clear, is the DA administration in Tshwane that inherited a near bankrupt, faction-riddled ANC administration sinking into a bog of corruption and mismanagement.</p>
<p>We expect that Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga and his coalition crew will suffer the same fate. The ANC has yet to succeed in a motion of no confidence in the Johannesburg DA executive despite several attempts (and although it has the most seats on that council, though 15 shy of a majority), but it is going to keep on trying until it succeeds.</p>
<p>The new willingness of the EFF to cosy up to the ANC suggests Johannesburg’s DA-led administration is on borrowed time.</p>
<p>Mr Trollip, as many have pointed out, is not an easy man to get on with and he tends to make enemies relatively easily, which is how the DA alienated the UDM. But he was the representative of the party that secured the most votes in 2016 and managed to negotiate a coalition government. Now the second-placed party – and one that voters had roundly rejected, slashing its share of the vote by close to 20% – controls the Mayoral Committee and probably the mayor with his 2% share of the vote.</p>
<p>People and parties wear tags of democracy and the will of the people on their exposed sleeves for all to see yet are quite prepared to usurp the will of people for short-term political gain and, frankly, in a spirit of bad-tempered malice.</p>
<p>Not only is this usurping the will of the people: it signals that South Africa’s political environment has been Zumafied to the point where everything is about power, position and access to resources and where public service and sacrifice for the common good are campaign slogans of no further use.</p>
<p>Coalitions in South Africa have now become mechanisms for gaining by stealth what was lost at the ballot box and for personal gain above service. This undermines democracy and deprives the people of what should and could be a relatively stable and productive mechanism for governing.</p>


OpEd: Is the coalition experiment over in South Africa’s municipal governments?

<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The chairman of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress was quoted as saying the state should take without compensation land from those who own more than 12,000 hectares, comments that sent the rand weaker.</p>
<p>More than two decades after the end of apartheid, white people still own most of South Africa’s land.</p>
<p>Ownership patterns remain highly emotive as the government has been slow to transfer land to the black majority after centuries of colonial and racial oppression.</p>
<p>The ANC’s plans to amend the constitution to redistribute land have been interpreted negatively by some investors, who see them as undermining property rights.</p>
<p>The ruling party has sought to assuage those fears by saying that land reform will follow a parliamentary process. [nL5N1UR8OX]</p>
<p>“You shouldn’t own more than 12,000 hectares of land and therefore if you own more, it should be taken without compensation,” ANC Chairman Gwede Mantashe, who is also the country’s mines minister, told the News24 website in an interview published on Wednesday.</p>
<p>It was not immediately clear whether Mantashe’s comments represented official ANC policy. Four key party officials did not answer their phones when called by Reuters for clarification.</p>
<p>Mantashe is one of the top six most powerful officials in the ruling party and a close ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa.</p>
<p>The rand fell more than 3 percent against the dollar earlier, partly weakened by Mantashe’s comments, a report by Moody’s ratings agency on the struggling economy and a resurgent dollar, which struck a 13-month peak. [nL5N1V62YT]</p>
<p>The ANC is under pressure to make headway with land reform ahead of next year’s national election, where the ultra-left Economic Freedom Fighters party has made faster land redistribution one of its main policies.</p>
<p>The 12,000 hectare land ownership limit was mooted in 2016, by then-rural development minister Gugile Nkwinti. But Nkwinti said the government would seek to buy, not expropriate without compensation, land from those owning more than 12,000 hectares.</p>
<p>AfriForum, an organisation that mostly represents white South Africans on issues such as affirmative action, has criticised the ANC’s decision to endorse constitutional changes to allow the state to seize land without compensation, saying the move would be “catastrophic”. [nL5N1US5TC]</p>
<p>Writing by Alexander Winning; Editing by James Macharia and Alison Williams</p>


Chairman of South Africa’s ruling party wants land expropriated without compensation from those with over 12,000 hectares

<p>By Gary van Staden, Senior Political Analyst at NKC African Economics</p>
<p>President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday, July 31, took a leaf form his predecessor’s play book and sprung a late-night surprise on the nation with the announcement that the constitution would be amended to facilitate land expropriation without compensation, rendering futile any further discussion and representations on the issue.</p>
<p>It was a legalistic, populist political gambit that merely reinforces the belief that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has no unclouded vision of where it wants to go but is determined to go there anyway.</p>
<p>The decision taken at the ANC’s two-day National Executive Committee (NEC) lekgotla was apparently informed by the views expressed at the ongoing hearings on land taking place across the country and headed by Parliament’s Constitutional Review Committee.</p>
<p>The fact that the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) voiced the view in favour of expropriation without compensation the most loudly spooked the ANC NEC and led to what is a premature decision.</p>
<p>The decision to amend the constitution to facilitate something the constitution already allows for was explained as a need to allow for the “explicit” expropriation of land without compensation.</p>
<p>Local media reported that Mr Ramaphosa said it had become “patently clear that our people want the constitution be more explicit about expropriation of land without compensation, as demonstrated in the public hearings. The lekgotla reaffirmed its position that a comprehensive land reform programme that enables equitable access to land will unlock economic growth by bringing more land in South Africa to full use and [will] enable the productive participation of millions more South Africans in the economy.”</p>
<p>It would be difficult to find a reasonable South African who would deny the urgent and necessary need for land reform, but such a reasonable person would also want to see the plan to understand the strategy and policy framework that would guide such reform in order to ensure that it would succeed in its mission of empowering the dispossessed and unlocking economic potential.</p>
<p>What they would have seen on Tuesday night was an ANC terrified that the EFF was going to stake a leadership claim on the issue of land redistribution and that was politically unpalatable.</p>
<p>So, we were treated to another dose of populist rhetoric with no clear answers or even a hint to the critical questions of what land, where, how, for whom under what policy and regulatory environments, and with what predetermined outcomes.</p>
<p>While it would be reasonable once again to accept that such details and agendas and policy frameworks could not be explored at Tuesday night’s late briefing, there is a real concern that these details, agendas and policy guidelines do not in fact exist and that the detailed issues of land redistribution and the myriad problems that the whole saga brings to the fore are seriously lagging electoral concerns.</p>
<p>There are several institutions and NGOs who have done sterling and valuable work on the ‘backstage’ issues, problems and complexities of a serious land reform programme that would address the real problems and facilitate real solutions without political grandstanding and empty rhetoric.</p>
<p>These institutions deal with key aspects of a land reform programme and offer various scenarios for taking the entire process forward, but these solutions do not always carry the electoral windfall political parties are seeking to tap into.</p>
<p>There is broad agreement among those organisations serious about land reform that constitutional amendments are not required to facilitate the process, but this detailed practical set of policy initiatives is far less sexy than political posturing on electoral platforms and the late, late press show.</p>
<p>The problem is that the consequences of these press shows are often dire and, given the lack of any context or any reasonable framework in which to place the dramatic announcements, inevitably lead to negative financial and economic consequences and undermine confidence.</p>
<p>There was a chance here for a successful land reform programme that would involve both benefit to our people and a growth of investor confidence in how well the issue was managed. That outcome is now off the table.</p>


Op-Ed: South Africa’s rush into populist politics in a policy vacuum

<p>STATEMENT OF ANC PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA ON CONCLUSION OF ANC NEC LEKGOTLA</p>
<p>31 JULY 2018</p>
<p>Fellow South Africans</p>
<p>Comrades and Friends,</p>
<p>The African National Congress has just concluded a two-day NEC Lekgotla in Tshwane.</p>
<p>The Lekgotla focused on a number of issues, including the current status of our economy, job creation and land reform.</p>
<p>It further engaged on issues of governance, social development and broader transformation which will be elaborated on by the Secretary General tomorrow.</p>
<p>We thought that it was important for the President of the ANC to clearly and unambiguously articulate the position of the organisation on two matters that are critical to the economic development of our country and the well-being of its people.</p>
<p>The first is the implementation of of the ANC’s resolution on land reform.</p>
<p>The second is about the current   economic environment.</p>
<p>On land reform, the ANC applauds our people, from all walks of life – including the rural poor, farm labourers, the unemployed, the landless, urban residents, farmers and traditional leaders – for expressing their views on this critical matter.</p>
<p>Our people have been expressing their views on the land question openly and without any fear or favour.</p>
<p>They have been putting forward solutions on how the land question can be resolved.</p>
<p>This is the constitutional democracy that we fought for.</p>
<p>The ANC reaffirms its position that the Constitution is a mandate for radical transformation both of society and the economy.</p>
<p>A proper reading of the Constitution on the property clause enables the state to effect expropriation of land with just and equitable compensation and also expropriation without compensation in the public interest.</p>
<p>It has become patently clear that our people want the Constitution be more explicit about expropriation of land without compensation, as demonstrated in the public hearings.</p>
<p>There is also a growing body of opinion, by a number of South Africans, that the constitution as it stands does not impede expropriation of land without compensation.</p>
<p>The lekgotla reaffirmed its position that a comprehensive land reform programme that enables equitable access to land will unlock economic growth, by  bringing more land in South Africa to full use, and enable the productive participation of millions more South Africans in the economy.</p>
<p>Accordingly, the ANC will, through the parliamentary process, finalise a proposed amendment to the Constitution that outlines more clearly the conditions under which expropriation of land without compensation can be effected.</p>
<p>The intention of this proposed amendment is to promote redress, advance economic development, increase agricultural production and food security.</p>
<p>It will also transform the unjust spatial realities in urban areas.</p>
<p>To accelerate agrarian reform, the ANC has further directed government to urgently initiate farmer support programmes in depressed areas before the first rains this year.</p>
<p>This should include supporting farmers with tools, tractors, fertilisers, seeds, extension services, finance and access to key infrastructure.</p>
<p>Our economy is facing serious challenges. The recently released figures on unemployment are worrying.</p>
<p>Given this economic environment, the Lekgotla directed government to move with urgency to develop and implement a stimulus package to ignite growth that will lead to the creation of jobs, especially for young people and women.</p>
<p>These efforts should focus on rural communities and townships.</p>
<p>This stimulus package will be based on existing budgetary resources and the pursuit of new investments while remaining committed to fiscal prudence.</p>
<p>It will comprise, amongst others, of the following:<br />
&#8211;   Increased investment in public infrastructure.<br />
&#8211;   Increased support for entrepreneurship and employment opportunities for youth and women, as well as small and medium businesses<br />
&#8211;   Trade support measures for sectors such as sugar and products affected by big import surges<br />
&#8211;   Ensure that procurement focuses on localization<br />
&#8211;   Training for unemployed young South Africans with the skills necessary to compete in a rapidly-changing economy.</p>
<p>As deployees of the ANC in government, we have committed that the work to develop this stimulus should start now to ignite growth, tackle unemployment and mitigate the effects of the rising cost of living.</p>
<p>We call on all South Africans to work with us in developing a social compact for economic inclusion, economic growth and jobs for all.</p>
<p>I thank you.</p>


SA’s President Cyril Ramaphosa’s statement on expropriation of land without compensation, economic stimulus

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<p>A political post that prompted thousands of people to take the streets in protest in days of fire and violence in May has been handed to a new broom. For months people in South Africa’s North West province called for the downfall of Supra Mahumapelo – now he has gone what will his successor do? CNBC Africa&#8217;s Lubabalo Mashiqana reports.</p>


ANC announces new North West Premier

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<p>Supra Mahumapelo, premier of South Africa’s North West province, is due to announce his resignation at a press conference scheduled for today. This is following the civil unrest throughout the province calling for better service delivery.</p>


Mahumapelo to step down as premier of SA’s North West province

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<p>It’s been a day of fire and anger in SA’s troubled North West Province. For days protestors have barricaded streets and fought with riot police in Mahikeng. They are angry over the lack of service delivery and want premier Supra Mahumapelo fired.</p>


#MahikengProtests leave trail of destruction as crises deepens

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<p>Police are fighting street battles with protesters in the tiny settlement of Mahikeng in SA&#8217;s North West province. The magnitude of this protest has been so strong that it has forced President Ramaphosa to cut short his investment trip to London.</p>


#MahikengProtests spread as SA’s President Ramaphosa cuts short London trip

<p>By Zikhona Masala</p>
<p>It was a funeral service that will forever be on the minds and hearts of those that attended and watched. Thousands of <a href="http://cnbc.africa/category/insights/winnie-madikizela-mandela/">Winnie Madikizela-Mandela</a>’s children painted Orlando Stadium green, yellow and red on Saturday. Politicians, ordinary people, supermodels and heads of state from all over the world came to give testimony to this great leader whose impact was felt across the world. They came to bid farewell to the struggle icon popularly known as the Mother of The Nation, a towering and courageous figure who fought against oppression in South Africa and continued to be an advocate for the downtrodden until her last breath on the 2nd of April 2018. The mood was a highly celebratory one, leaving little room for a sombre atmosphere as renowned South African musicians graced the stage paying tribute and upholding the memory of Mama Winnie. Sounds of struggle songs also filled the stadium accompanied by stomping of feet creating a powerful aura.</p>
<div id="attachment_304150" style="width: 2058px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-304150" class="size-full wp-image-304150" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_0636.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1365" /><p id="caption-attachment-304150" class="wp-caption-text">Winnie Mandela&#8217;s funeral service. Photo by Zikhona Masala</p></div>
<p>“Even as our hearts were heavy, that we had lost the woman the world knew as Winnie Madikizela-Mandela but who I simply call mum, we have been shielded from our pain by your love”, said Zenani Mandela.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1JeZl6MAU1Y" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>The tone intensified as Mandela spoke directly to those that had vilified her mother, saying “the pain you inflicted on her, lives on in us. Praising her now that she has gone shows what hypocrites you are”.</p>
<p>She also addressed the different standards of morality that exist in South Africa and the world when it comes to men and women. “My mother is one of the many women who rose against patriarchy, prejudice and the might of a nuclear-armed state to bring the peace and democracy we enjoy today.”</p>
<p><a href="http://cnbc.africa/category/insights/winnie-madikizela-mandela/">FOR MORE ON WINNIE MADIKIZELA-MANDELA CLICK HERE </a></p>
<p>Those present were in unison saying Mam’ Winnie hasn’t died but has multiplied because her spirit continues to live on in many people in South Africa and beyond, a theme which come up numerous times through the proceedings.</p>
<p>Well known Orlando Pirates supporter Joy “Mama Joy” said, “Mama Winnie was the strongest woman who has fought a good fight. She didn’t die, she lives in us. I am Winnie Madikizela Mandela.”</p>
<p>In attendance was the Madikizela and Mandela family, politicians, delegations from South Africa to the United States. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, President of <a href="http://cnbc.africa/videos/2018/04/14/mam-winnie-leaves-behind-a-legacy-of-sacrifice-commitment-namibian-president/">Namibia Hage Geingob</a>, the President of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso. International dignitaries included Supermodel, <a href="http://cnbc.africa/videos/2018/04/14/mam-winnie-never-wavered-in-her-conviction-courage-naomi-campbell/">Naomi Campbell</a>, American Civil Rights activist Reverend <a href="http://cnbc.africa/videos/2018/04/13/rev-jesse-jackson-pays-homage-to-winnie-madikizela-mandela/">Jessie Jackson</a>.</p>
<p>The leader of South Africa’s political party – the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), <a href="http://cnbc.africa/videos/2018/04/14/mama-winnie-was-persecuted-by-the-apartheid-regime-and-disowned-by-her-own-julius-malema/">Julius Malema</a>, who was very close to Madikizela-Mandela, praised her for having put the country first and putting her life in danger because of her love for her people and the need of restoring their freedom. Malema slammed those in attendance at the funeral service that had turned their backs on her calling them sell outs. He also addressed the ANC for having turned its back on Mama Winnie saying, “If it’s true that the ANC want to honour Winnie Mandela, name Cape Town Airport, Winnie Mandela Airport.”</p>
<p>Madikizela-Mandela dedicated her life to the liberation of South Africa, she endured injustices but her unwavering courage and fighting spirit allowed her to stand up at the height of racial oppression in South Africa when others were unable to do so. “Mama Winnie was a witness to the truths and horrors of our nation, not only because of her own hardships but because of her courage,” said <a href="http://cnbc.africa/insights/winnie-madikizela-mandela/2018/04/14/sas-president-cyril-ramaphosas-mam-winnie-madikizela-mandela-eulogy/">South African President Cyril Ramaphosa</a>.</p>
<p>“Mama Winnie was my icon and my mum. To me she was like Jesus Christ because she used to fight a lot for us and she never forgot the poor people, she saw us as human beings. I remember when I was still young seeing her at Zone 7 after the Sebokeng massacre, she was also there to support us after the Boipatong massacre, and many years before that she was there in Sharpeville. Mama Winnie was always there for us,” said Jwalane Mokoena from Sebokeng.</p>
<div id="attachment_304154" style="width: 1375px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-304154" class="size-full wp-image-304154" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_0590.jpg" alt="" width="1365" height="2048" /><p id="caption-attachment-304154" class="wp-caption-text">Winnie Mandela&#8217;s funeral service: Photo by Zikhona Masala</p></div>
<p>As the Mother of The Nation exited the stadium to her final resting place, it thundered and poured with rain, the crowds erupted with cheering and jubilation, reacting to rain, which according to African culture is seen as showers of blessing. The giant was laid to rest at Fourways Memorial Park after a ten day period of mourning.</p>


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