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Momodou
Denmark
11512 Posts |
 Posted - 02 Apr 2018 : 17:55:56
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Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Image: Veli Nhlapo
IN FULL | Family statement on Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's death
By staff reporter - 02 April 2018 - 16:19
https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-04-02-in-full--family-statement-on-winnie-madikizela-mandelas-death/
It is with profound sadness that we inform the public that Mrs Winnie Madikizela-Mandela passed away at the Netcare Milpark Hospital‚ Johannesburg‚ South Africa, on Monday April 2 2018.
She died after a long illness‚ for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year. She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones.
Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was one of the greatest icons of the struggle against apartheid. She fought valiantly against the apartheid state and sacrificed her life for the freedom of the country. Her activism and resistance to apartheid landed her in jail on numerous occasions‚ eventually causing her banishment to the small town of Brandfort in the then Orange Free State.
She kept the memory of her imprisoned husband Nelson Mandela alive during his years on Robben Island and helped give the struggle for justice in South Africa one its most recognisable faces. She dedicated most of her adult life to the cause of the people and for this was known far and wide as the Mother of the Nation.
The Mandela family are deeply grateful for the gift of her life and even as our hearts break at her passing‚ we urge all those who loved her to celebrate this most remarkable woman.
The family will release details of the memorial and funeral services once these have been finalised.
Issued by Victor Dlamini‚ family spokesman
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11512 Posts |
Posted - 02 Apr 2018 : 18:31:14
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Winnie Madikizela-Mandela: Anti-apartheid campaigner dies at 81
BBC online
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43621112
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was the former wife of South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela.
The couple - famously pictured hand-in-hand as Mr Mandela walked free from prison after 27 years - were a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle for nearly three decades. |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11512 Posts |
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Momodou
Denmark
11512 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2018 : 12:59:57
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Winnie Mandela writing to Nelson Mandela shortly after her release from prison
My Husband,
I can only hope that the guards do not completely destroy this letter. I have recently been released from Pretoria central prison. They called me a terrorist Nelson; I was only doing my job and speaking on behalf of the ANC. They kept me in solitary confinement for a year but I never stopped thinking about you and our girls each day while I was in there. I knew that the girls were safe away at boarding school but still I constantly worried about you. In prison, they treated me like an animal Nelson, they tortured and humiliated me. Those first few days are the worst in anyone's life - that uncertainty, that insecurity. The whole thing is calculated to destroy you. [I was] not in touch with anybody. And in those days all I had in the cell was a sanitary bucket, a plastic bottle which could contain only about three glasses of water and a mug. The days and nights became so long I found I was talking to myself. [My] body [became] sore, because [I was] not used to sleeping on cement. I know that your conditions at Robben Island are not much better but my days in jail only made me stronger. I want to fight Nelson; I want to free our people from the white government. The police continue to harass me all the time. Each day, I wonder if I will able to return home to see our girls. Nelson, your daughters live in fear each day. They have already lost the presence of their father; they cannot lose me as well. Even though Zinzi is a year younger than Zenani, she has really taken over my role as the mother of the house. Our girls have your heart, especially Zinzi, she talks about wanting to bring about change and fight for your freedom and for our people. I don't know how our girls have continued to be so strong, especially while both of us were locked away. They no longer allow to continue my duties as a social worker, so I am only focused on my role in the ANC. My love, we are so lucky to be blessed with friends and neighbours who are helping us during this difficult time. How do the police expect me to feed our girls with no income? I am just thankful for the help from our people. Nelson, I have had such little time to love you. But our love has survived all these years of separation so far. I long for you all the time. When I do get to have visits with you, I can only touch your hand. I want to kiss you; I want to be able to converse with you without hearing the white guards shout "Politics" to cut off our conversations. I want to watch you be a father to our children. But most of all Nelson, I want to fight. I want to hurt the white man, the filth and disgust that they have put us and our people through. They must pay for everything that they have done. You were right when you said "I had married trouble" because trouble is what I am going to give them. I will continue to fight each day for our people.
Until I see you again my love.
Winnie
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Winnie Mandala dies
