<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>
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<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>


Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was more than a mother of a nation, her impact was felt across Africa

<p>By Cyril Ramaphosa</p>
<p>Programme Directors, Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Chairperson of the NCOP Thandi Modise,<br />
Members of the Mandela and Madikizela families,<br />
HE President Denis Sassou Nguesso,<br />
HE President Hage Geingob,<br />
Deputy President David Mabuza,<br />
Speaker of the National Assembly Ms Baleka Mbete,<br />
Vice Presidents and Prime Ministers,<br />
Visiting Former Presidents and Prime Ministers,<br />
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,<br />
Heads of Delegations from Sister Countries and Multilateral Organisations,<br />
Your Majesties and all Traditional Leaders,<br />
Distinguished International Leaders,<br />
Leaders of South African Political Parties,<br />
Members of Parliament,<br />
Heads of Delegations from Fraternal Parties,<br />
Friends, Comrades,<br />
Fellow South Africans,</p>
<p>We gather here to bid farewell to Mam&#8217; Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela Mandela a mother, a grandmother, a great grandmother, a sister, a great leader who we have come to refer to as the Mother of our Nation.</p>
<p>Just as we are burdened by the sorrow of her death, so too are we comforted by the richnessand profound meaning of her life.</p>
<p>The pain we carry in our hearts cannot be extinguished.</p>
<p>Nor should we be denied our joy in recalling the life of so wondrous a person.</p>
<p>We gather here not only to pay our final respects to a great African woman, but to affirm the common humanity that, through her life, she revealed in us.</p>
<p>Her life was dedicated to the unity of the daughters and sons of the African soil.</p>
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<p>Her life was dedicated to the unity of the oppressed of all nations.</p>
<p>In death, she has brought us all together, from near and far, across many nations and continents, to mourn, to pay homage, to remember and to fondly reminisce.</p>
<p>In death, she has demonstrated that our many differences along political party and racial linesand the numerous disputes we may have areeclipsed by our shared desire to follow her lead in building a just, equitable and caring society.</p>
<p>Hers was a life of service.</p>
<p>It was a life of compassion.</p>
<p>She chose as her vocation the alleviation of the suffering of others.</p>
<p>She trained and worked as one who provides support and care and comfort to those most deeply affected by poverty, hunger and illness.</p>
<p>Yet, like many of the great leaders of her generation, she understood that the suffering she encountered did not happen on the edges of society.</p>
<p>Such suffering defined society.</p>
<p>She saw for herself the deliberate intent of the apartheid rulers to impoverish the people of this country.</p>
<p>Her conscience, her convictions, left her with no choice but to resist.</p>
<p>She felt compelled to join a struggle that was as noble in its purpose as it was perilous in its execution.</p>
<p>She felt compelled to speak when others were rendered silent.</p>
<p>She felt compelled to organise, to mobilise, to lead when those who led our people had beensent across the bay to the Island, whilst others were forced to flee beyond our borders or were martyred by a state that knew no mercy.</p>
<p>She felt compelled to pick up the spear where ithad fallen.</p>
<p>It was a spear that, throughout the darkest moments of our struggle, she wielded with great courage, unequivocal commitment and incredible skill.</p>
<p>Her formidable will was matched by a keen political sense and a presence that inspired both awe and admiration.</p>
<p>As a potent symbol of resistance, as the steadfast bearer of the name ?Mandela?, she was seen by the enemy as a threat to the raciststate.</p>
<p>She was an African woman who ? in her attitude, her words and her actions ? defied the very premise of apartheid ideology and male superiority.</p>
<p>Proud, defiant, articulate, she exposed the lie of apartheid.</p>
<p>She laid bare the edifice of patriarchy.</p>
<p>She challenged the attitudes, norms, practices and social institutions that perpetuated ? in ways both brutal and subtle ? the inferior status of women.</p>
<p>Loudly and without apology, she spoke truth to power.</p>
<p>And it was those in power who, insecure and fearful, visited upon her the most vindictive and callous retribution.</p>
<p>Yet, through everything, she endured.</p>
<p>They could not break her.</p>
<p>They could not silence her.</p>
<p>After Nelson Mandela was jailed, she said:</p>
<p><em>&#8216;They think, because they have put my husband on an island, that he will be forgotten. They are wrong. The harder they try to silence him, the louder I will become!&#8217;</em>.</p>
<p>And she became evermore so bold and loud.</p>
<p>They thought they could banish her to Brandfort.</p>
<p>They miscalculated greatly because in truth,they sent her to live among her people ? to share in their trials, tribulations and hardships, to share their hopes and aspirations, and to draw courage from their daily struggle againstthe tyranny of racial subjugation.</p>
<p>The enemy expected her to return from Brandfort diminished, broken and defeated.</p>
<p>They expected her to succumb to the excruciating pressure of years of solitary confinement, harassment and vilification.</p>
<p>Instead, she emerged from these torments emboldened, driven by a burning desire to give voice to the aspirations of her people.</p>
<p>To give them hope. To give them courage.</p>
<p>To lead them to freedom.</p>
<p>It was not long ago that we celebrated with Mama Winnie her 80th birthday.</p>
<p>On that occasion, we recited the poem by Maya Angelou, ?<em>And still I rise</em>?.</p>
<p>It is only fitting that we should do so again today,for Maya Angelou could easily have written this poem to describe Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela-Mandela?s life.</p>
<p><em>You may write me down in history</em><em><br />
With your bitter, twisted lies,<br />
You may tread me in the very dirt<br />
But still, like dust, I&#8217;ll rise.</em></p>
<p>Does my sassiness upset you?<br />
Why are you beset with gloom?<br />
&#8216;Cause I walk like I&#8217;ve got oil wells<br />
Pumping in my living room.</p>
<p>Just like moons and like suns,<br />
With the certainty of tides,<br />
Just like hopes springing high,<br />
Still I&#8217;ll rise.</p>
<p>Did you want to see me broken?<br />
Bowed head and lowered eyes?<br />
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.<br />
Weakened by my soulful cries.</p>
<p>Does my haughtiness offend you?<br />
Don&#8217;t you take it awful hard?<br />
&#8216;Cause I laugh like I&#8217;ve got gold mines<br />
Diggin&#8217; in my own back yard.</p>
<p>You may shoot me with your words,<br />
You may cut me with your eyes,<br />
You may kill me with your hatefulness,<br />
But still, like air, I&#8217;ll rise.</p>
<p>Does my sexiness upset you?<br />
Does it come as a surprise<br />
That I dance like I&#8217;ve got diamonds<br />
At the meeting of my thighs?</p>
<p>Out of the huts of history&#8217;s shame<br />
I rise<br />
Up from a past that&#8217;s rooted in pain<br />
I rise<br />
I&#8217;m a black ocean, leaping and wide,<br />
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.<br />
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear<br />
I rise<br />
Into a daybreak that&#8217;s wondrously clear<br />
I rise<br />
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,<br />
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.<br />
I rise<br />
I rise<br />
I rise?.</p>
<p>Like so many of our people she has lived with fear, pain, loss and disappointment.</p>
<p>And yet each day she rose with the nobleness of the human spirit.</p>
<p>They sought to denigrate her with bitter and twisted lies, but still she rose.</p>
<p>They wanted to see her broken, with bowed head and lowered eyes, and weakened by soulful cries, but still she rose.</p>
<p>As we bid her farewell, we are forced to admit that too often as she rose, she rose alone.</p>
<p>Too often, we were not there for her.</p>
<p>The day after she died, the ANC?s top six leaders went to her home to pay our condolences to her family.</p>
<p>Zenani Mandela, reflecting on her mother?s life and overcome by emotion, said: ?<em>My mother suffered. She had a very difficult life.</em>?</p>
<p>Then she burst into tears.</p>
<p>That statement and those tears have stayed with me since that day.</p>
<p>Zenani?s tears revealed Mam? Winnie?s wounds.</p>
<p>It brought to mind the moment when Jesus said to the apostle Thomas as recorded in the book of John 20:27:</p>
<p>?<em>Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.</em>?</p>
<p>In essence, Jesus was saying to the apostle: ?Touch my wounds.?</p>
<p>During this period of mourning many South Africans have been touching Mam? Winnie?s wounds.</p>
<p>It ought to have been done long ago. For she wore the gaping wounds of her people.</p>
<p>She had been left to tend her wounds on her own for most of her life.</p>
<p>Left alone to fend for herself only caused her more pain.</p>
<p>But she touched our wounds all the time.</p>
<p>When we lost our loved ones, when people were in pain, overcome with anger, prone to violence, she came to touch our wounds.</p>
<p>She bore witness to our suffering.</p>
<p>She bandaged our wounds.</p>
<p>We did not do the same for her.</p>
<p>In her book ?Part of My Soul Went with Him?, she wrote:</p>
<p>?<em>I have ceased a long time ago to exist as an individual. The ideals, the political goals that I stand for, those are the ideals and goals of the people in this country. They cannot just forget their own ideas. My private self doesn?t exist. Whatever they do to me, they do to the people in the country. I am and will always be only a political barometer. </em></p>
<p>?From every situation I have found myself in, you can read the political heat in the country at a particular time. When they send me into exile, it?s not me as an individual they are sending. They think that with me they can also ban the political ideas. But that is a historical impossibility. They will never succeed in doing that. I am of no importance to them as an individual. What I stand for is what they want to banish. I couldn?t think of a greater honour.?</p>
<p>Her healing from the deep wounds inflicted on her was incomplete.</p>
<p>We must continue to touch Mama?s wounds, acknowledge her immense pain and torment, and pass on the stories of her suffering to future generations so that it may always be known that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was a giant, a pathfinder, a soldier, a healer, a champion of people?s struggles and forever the Mother of the Nation.</p>
<p>We must also recognise our own wounds as a nation.</p>
<p>We must acknowledge that we are a society that is hurting, damaged by our past, numbed by our present and hesitant about our future.</p>
<p>This may explain why we are easily prone to anger and violence.</p>
<p>Many people saw Mam? Winnie as their mother because her own wounds made her real and easy to relate to.</p>
<p>It is only when you experience real pain yourself that you can recognise it in others and offer comfort.</p>
<p>That is what Mam? Winnie did for decades, particularly when she stood alone as a bulwark against the apartheid regime, when she wiped away people?s tears, carried their coffins and inspired violence-fatigued communities to carryon.</p>
<p>Mam? Winnie was a witness to the truths andhorrors of our nation, not only because of her own hardships but because of her courage.</p>
<p>Like the women who went to Jesus?s tomb after the men ran away, she was perpetually in the trenches, never afraid that it would be too much for her to bear.</p>
<p>When it was safe to do so, the men took over again and the women were relegated to a supporting role.</p>
<p>Mam? Winnie provided leadership at the most difficult periods and sought no reward.</p>
<p>Like women throughout our society do every day, she toiled and never claimed glory.</p>
<p>Mam? Winnie was universal and timeless.</p>
<p>As we continue to touch her wounds, we must be brave enough to share her life and legacy across our society and with the people she loved.</p>
<p>Shortly before her death, we had a conversation about her concerns, her worries and her wishes.</p>
<p>She spoke of her deep desire for unity and the renewal not only of the movement that she loved dearly, but of the nation.</p>
<p>She wanted a South African nation that wouldheal the divisions of the past and eradicate the inequality and injustice of the present.</p>
<p>She wanted us to honour the commitment in the Freedom Charter that the people should share in the country?s wealth and that the land should be shared amongst those who work it and be returned.</p>
<p>She spoke of many thoughts she had about how the revolutionary ideals and morality of her movement should be restored and not be undermined by corruption and self-enrichment.</p>
<p>Just as Mam? Winnie has united us in sorrow, let us honour her memory by uniting in common purpose.</p>
<p>Let us honour her memory by pledging here that we will dedicate all our resources, all our efforts, all our energy to the empowerment of the poor and vulnerable.</p>
<p>Let us honour her memory by pledging here that we will not betray the trust of her people, we will not squander or steal their resources, and that we will serve them diligently and selflessly.</p>
<p>The Mother of the Nation has died, but she is not gone.</p>
<p>She lives on in the young girl who today still walks the dusty streets of Mbongweni, resolutethat her life will not be defined by the poverty into which she was born, nor constrained by the attitudes to women that seek to demean her existence.</p>
<p>She lives on in the domestic worker who is determined that the suffering and sacrifice of her many years of servitude will not be visited on her children.</p>
<p>She lives on in the prisoner who regrets his choices as much as he bemoans his circumstances, who dearly seeks another chance to make a better life for his family.</p>
<p>She lives on in the engineer, who has defied discrimination and prejudice to build a career for herself in a field so long reserved for a privileged few.</p>
<p>She lives on in the social worker who tends to those in society who are neglected and abused, asking nothing for himself but the opportunity to serve.</p>
<p>She lives on in the Palestinian teenager who refuses to stand by as he is stripped of hishome, his heritage and his prospects for a peaceful, content and dignified life.</p>
<p>She lives on in the African-American woman, who though she lives in a country of great prosperity and progress, is still weighed down by the accumulated prejudice of generations.</p>
<p>She lives on even in the conscience of the apartheid security policeman who has yet to atone for his murderous ways, but whose humanity she sought to salvage and whose dignity she fought to restore.</p>
<p>She lives on in the movement to which she dedicated her life, as it seeks its way back to the path along which she led it.</p>
<p>She lives on in the nation that called her &#8216;Mama&#8217;, as it strives each day to fulfil its destiny as a united, peaceful, prosperous and just society.</p>
<p>Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died, but she is not gone.</p>
<p>She lives on in all of us.</p>
<p>She inspires our actions.</p>
<p>She guides our struggles.</p>
<p>She remains our conscience.</p>
<p>May her soul rest in eternal peace.</p>
<p>May her spirit live forever.</p>
<p>Lala ngoxolo Nobantu, Ngutyana. Phapha. Makhalendlovu Msuthu. Msengetwa. Qhawe lama qhawe.</p>
<p>I thank you.</p>


SA’s President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Mam’ Winnie Madikizela Mandela eulogy

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<p>This is a day of mixed feelings, of regret and celebration, as the nation says goodbye to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Baleka Mbete, SA Parliament Speaker tells CNBC Africa’s Fifi Peters at Orlando Stadium about the legacy of the Mother of the Nation.</p>


As SA celebrates Mama Winnie, we must learn from her – Speaker Baleka Mbete

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<p>Malusi Gigaba, South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, discusses what South Africa has to do to keep Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s legacy alive.</p>


#WinnieMandelaFuneral: Mama Winnie was a voice for the voiceless– SA Minister Gigaba

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<p>Mmamoloko Tryphosa Kubayi, South Africa’s Minister of Science and Technology shares her fondest memories of Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.</p>


#WinnieMandelaFuneral: Mama Winnie was a unifier – SA Minister Kubayi

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<p>CNBC Africa’s Karabo Letlhatlha caught up with Energy Minister Jeff Radebe and Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane who shared their lasting thoughts about Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.</p>


Understanding #Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s legacy on South Africans

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<p>We are one day away from the burial of our late struggle hero and stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. CNBC Africa’s Aviwe Mtila went to the Fourways Memorial Park where mam&#8217; Winnie Madikizela-Mandela will be laid to rest.</p>


#Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s final resting place

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<p>Brandfort, Free State was where struggle stalwart, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was banished to by the Apartheid government. CNBC Africa’s Lubabalo Mashiqana went to the house where mam Winnie spent some of her defining years and filed this report.</p>


Brandfort residents demand answers on #Winnie Mandela museum

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<p>There was singing this morning at a small spot in a small town where there was once despair for one of Africa’s most famous daughters. The Free State town of Brandfort was where Winnie Mandela was banished by the apartheid government in the  1970s.</p>


Brandfort neighbour fondly remembers #Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

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<p>Brandfort, Free State was where struggle stalwart, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was banished to by the Apartheid government. CNBC Africa went to the house where mam Winnie spent some of her defining years and filed this report.</p>


Brandfort, Free State remembers #Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

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<p>The Minister of Communications, Nomvula Mokonyane, joins CNBC Africa to share her memories of the late Struggle Stalwart Winnie Mandela and rumours of deep divisions in the ANC in the wake of former president Jacob Zuma’s trial.</p>


Was Winnie Mandela side-lined by the ANC?

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<p>President Ramaphosa has arrived at the birthplace of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in Bizana, Eastern Cape, while preparations are underway for the African National Congress official memorial service in Bizana where he&#8217;ll be giving the key note address.</p>


ANC unveils wall of remembrance for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

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<p>Zweli Mkhize, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs reflects on Mam Winnie&#8217;s legacy.</p>


Zweli Mkhize reflects on Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s legacy

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<p>Winnie Madikizela-Mandela&#8217;s legacy as a member of the ANC is controversial and highly critical. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Karabo Lethlathla spoke to Political Analyst and author, Ralph Matekga about her political career.</p>


Minister Nomvula Mokonyane on #Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s legacy

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<p>Winnie Madikizela-Mandela&#8217;s legacy as a member of the ANC is controversial and highly critical. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Karabo Lethlathla spoke to Political Analyst and author, Ralph Matekga about her political career.</p>


How will #Winnie Madikizela-Mandela be remembered?

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<p>Winnie Mandela died at the Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg – the very hospital where her former husband fought for his life in 2011 – aged 81. She will be afforded a state funeral on April 14. CNBC Africa takes a look back at her life.</p>


Mother of the nation, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela dies

<p>At a time when new President Cyril Ramaphosa is trying to restore faith and credibility to the South African government &#8211; another strong link with the far off days of pride, struggle and sacrifice, more than half a century ago, has passed into history.</p>
<p>In many ways Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who has died aged 81, reflected both sides of the struggle for liberation in South Africa: on the one side its stoic pride in resisting the dark forces of apartheid; on the other, the grim and often far from noble struggle on the streets of the townships against the last, vicious, kicks of the security forces.</p>
<p>There are two images -of Madikizela-Mandela making the clenched fist black power salute &#8211;  that sum up her defiant support of the struggle and her husband Nelson Mandela.</p>
<p>The first was taken on the steps of the Palace of Justice, in Pretoria, in 1963, at the so-called Rivonia Trial as he faced the death penalty on charges of sabotage. Madikizela-Mandela, fresh-faced and determined, held the salute in the face of police who had tried to intimidate her and even attempted to stop her wearing her traditional dress to court.</p>
<p>Fast forward to February 1990 when Madikizela-Mandela again made the same clenched fist salute as she walked hand-in-hand with her freed husband into cheering crowds outside Victor Verster Prison, near Cape Town.</p>
<p>That joyous day also saw the beginning of the end for the couple&#8217;s marriage that began back in 1958 and ended in 1996. Mandela emerged from 27 years in prison as a pragmatic negotiator determined to heal his broken nation; Madikizela-Mandela remained a flinty, feisty, hard-liner and these differences mixed with domestic issues, ushered the couple towards divorce.</p>
<p>Few could blame Madikizela-Mandela for her tough stance in politics. She was dragged through the mill by the apartheid authorities and spent more than 18-months in solitary confinement where she was forced to lie naked on a cold concrete floor. Police hammered on doors and searched her home, like clockwork, she was tortured by special branch thugs and her children were taken from her. When she was freed, the authorities banished her to Brandfort, a small town in the Free State, where she suffered years of isolation and intimidation, including the fire bombing of her home.</p>
<p>Madikizela-Mandela&#8217;s image was undoubtedly tarnished by violence linked to  her bodyguards from the infamous Mandela United Football Club. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission &#8211; the hearings that tried to heal post-apartheid South Africa &#8211; found Madikizela-Mandela to have been linked to violence in the grimy days of the township struggle.</p>
<p>Yet Madikizela-Mandela threw many of her latter years into causes that cemented her nickname : Mother of the Nation. She shrugged off criticism for failing to attend Parliament and being slow in paying rent to remain defiant until the end.</p>
<p>Madikizela-Mandela died in Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, the very hospital where her former husband fought for his life in a health scare in 2011, in the early hours of April 2. She leaves two daughters: Zindziswa and Zenani.</p>


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Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was more than a mother of a nation, her impact was felt across Africa

SA’s President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Mam’ Winnie Madikizela Mandela eulogy

As SA celebrates Mama Winnie, we must learn from her – Speaker Baleka Mbete

#WinnieMandelaFuneral: Mama Winnie was a voice for the voiceless– SA Minister Gigaba

#WinnieMandelaFuneral: Mama Winnie was a unifier – SA Minister Kubayi

Understanding #Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s legacy on South Africans

#Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s final resting place

Brandfort residents demand answers on #Winnie Mandela museum

Brandfort neighbour fondly remembers #Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Brandfort, Free State remembers #Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Was Winnie Mandela side-lined by the ANC?

ANC unveils wall of remembrance for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Zweli Mkhize reflects on Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s legacy

Minister Nomvula Mokonyane on #Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s legacy

How will #Winnie Madikizela-Mandela be remembered?

Mother of the nation, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela dies

End of an era as #WinnieMandela – Mother of the Nation – dies aged 81

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