Farewell to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

SAM ANCER

Although she was offered an opportunity to further her studies in the US, Madikizela-Mandela chose instead to work at the then Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg (now Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital), where she became South Africa’s first black medical social worker. It was there that she first took part in political activism and met Nelson Mandela. They married in 1958. Zenani, their first daughter, was born in 1959 and Zindzi, their second, in 1960.

In 1962, Nelson Mandela was arrested. He would spend the next 27 years in prison. Winnie would face her own hardships during that time, including imprisonment, banning, isolation and torture at the hands of apartheid officials. For eight years she was banished to the dusty Free State town of Brandfort.

Despite her struggles, she still continued her activism, establishing the Black Women’s Federation and the Black Parents’ Association during the 1976 youth uprising.

In the 1980s, Madikizela-Mandela became a controversial figure. In a speech she publicly incited violence against apartheid informants. Worse was to come: her bodyguards, comprising members of the Mandela United Football Club, were accused of assault and kidnapping.

After the dawn of democracy in 1994, Madikizela-Mandela served as Minister of Arts, Culture and Science and Technology. She was also a Member of Parliament and president of the ANC women’s league.

Madikizela-Mandela leaves behind two daughters, eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Members of the Jewish community had this to say about her passing.

Nicholas Wolpe, founder and CEO of the Liliesleaf Trust

“Her passing is a devastation. It is the end of the true stalwarts, the shining examples of putting themselves secondary to the cause – she embodied that. It was that fortitude that allowed her to speak up to the direction the ANC was going. Winnie was willing to be counted, and her unique character allowed her to question the path of the ANC and argue that the ANC needed to engage in self-reflection.

“Her fortitude highlighted the unique character of this wonderful woman. Those qualities of placing oneself second to the cause is no longer displayed in our society. We have lost a giant of our liberation struggle.

“We need to honour her. We need to understand the extent of what she was subjected to, and what this did to her. Despite what she suffered, and how she was treated, her human spirit did not waver.

“She endured the worst form of isolation, with the illusion of a community. That only served to increase her feelings of solitude and loneliness. How anyone could have survived that, I have no idea.

“Winnie became the voice of the people during the darkest days of our history. She kept the name of Mandela alive: there is a reason she is known as the Mother of the Nation.

“The neglect of women who fought in the struggle is highlighted by the treatment of Winnie. These women were the backbone and the foundations of the struggle. They were also involved in the struggle, fighting on the front lines, and Winnie was the best example of that.”

Benjamin Pogrund, author and former Rand Daily Mail journalist

“I have an enduring memory of the first time that my wife, Anne, and I visited Winnie after her banishment to the Brandfort ‘location’. A bed left little other space in her tiny bedroom, but against a wall was a small wooden bookcase. Pieces of cardboard, each with a letter of the alphabet, A to Z, were pinned to the three shelves. There were a few books. It was the library she had begun for the local people, she explained.

“In the same fighting-back spirit, she planted grass and flowers in the hard, dusty patch of ground outside the house, an oasis in that deprived place. The next time we visited, I saw that others had followed her lead.

“She was a complex person. She was the target of an unusual level of Security Police virulence: she was beautiful, she was defiant, she ceaselessly fought to keep her jailed husband’s name alive. In return, she treated them with contempt, which enraged them even more.

“The long years of loneliness and punishments inflicted on her finally had their effects and she committed unpardonable deeds. Yet she retained the love and respect of many, many millions of South Africans, who never forgot how she had fought for their freedom and what she had suffered because of it.”

Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein

“Winnie Mandela endured enormous personal suffering for the sake of the struggle against apartheid. As a young wife, she was separated from her husband while he was on the run from the authorities – and then for 27 years while he was in jail.

“Through her self-sacrifice in the face of extreme adversity, she inspired others. Through her dignity in the face of the active persecution by the apartheid regime, Winnie Mandela demonstrated real courage and heroic strength.

“The outpouring of emotion at her passing shows how – through her bravery and conviction – she captured the hearts of South Africans from all backgrounds.”

Naomi Hadar, executive director: Israel United Appeal United Communal Fund (IUA-UCF) Gauteng

“I had the pleasure of meeting Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in March 2016, when former President Shimon Peres visited South Africa under the auspices of the IUA-UCF. She was a formidable and dignified lady who graciously met with the former president.

“I was impressed with her vision for future generations of South Africans and her emphasis on investing in the younger generation. She came across as a strong woman with a clear, positive vision and with hope for South Africa.

“She was open and willing to listen and learn about Israel as an innovative and start-up nation with much to offer the world.”

Zev Krengel, vice-president of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD)

“We’ve always had a close relationship with Winnie Mandela. Her past wasn’t perfect, but she really was the Mother of the Nation.”

Richard Goldstone, former SA judge and United Nations prosecutor

“The passing of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela brings us towards the end of the era of South Africa’s freedom struggle heroes and heroines – a group that included Nelson Mandela, Oliver and Adelaide Tambo, and Walter and Albertina Sisulu.

“Her life was one of courage, romance, pain and sadness. She displayed immense fortitude in fighting the apartheid government and its racist policies, which brought her imprisonment, torture and banishment.

“Winnie was the adored wife of Nelson Mandela. Their marriage sadly disintegrated after Mandela’s release from prison and was followed by her trials and convictions for kidnapping, theft and fraud.

“Her millions of supporters forgave her transgressions and she was regarded by them as the Mother of the Nation. With her death, South Africa has lost one of its most colourful daughters.”

Anton Harber, adjunct professor of journalism at the University of the Witwatersrand

“It saddens me that the passing of Winnie Mandela has emphasised the gulf between those who admire and those who loathe her. Her passing should be a time when we all contemplate our capacity to do both good and bad, to be strong and yet have weakness.

“Winnie was a brave, powerful woman who stands as a symbol of the pain and suffering that apartheid inflicted and how it turned good to bad, and bad to good.

“In understanding Winnie’s role in this country, it is a time to face up to the fact that each of us in this country, and our society as a whole, remain deeply, deeply scarred by apartheid, and these are still open wounds. It is a time for inward-looking contemplation of these issues, and I wish there was more of that – particularly among whites – rather than self-righteous finger-pointing.”

Jonathan Stone, a close friend of Madikizela-Mandela

“She really had such a difficult and tough life. She had an immense life of difficulty, and despite all of this she managed to survive with strength, dignity and compassion. She sacrificed herself her whole life. She was totally selfless.”