Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born September 26, 1936 as Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela) is a South African politician who has held several government positions, headed the African National Congress' Women's League and is currently a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee.
She is the ex-wife of former South African president and African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela. As a controversial activist, she is popular among her supporters, who refer to her as the 'Mother of the Nation', yet reviled by others.
Contents |
[edit] Early years
Her Xhosa name is Nomzamo. Traditionally Xhosa names carry significance; Nomzamo means "trial". She was born in the village of Bizana, in the Pondo region of what is now South Africa's Eastern Cape Province. She held a number of jobs in various parts of what was then the Bantustan of Transkei, including with the Transkei government, living at various times in Bizana, Shawbury, and Johannesburg.
She met lawyer and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela in 1957. They were married in 1958 and had two daughters, Zenani (b.1959) and Zindzi (b.1960). She is a diabetic.[1]
[edit] Education
Despite restrictions on education of blacks during apartheid, she earned a degree in social work from the Jan Hofmeyer School in Johannesburg, and several years later earned a bachelor's degree in international relations from the University of Witwatersrand, also in Johannesburg.
[edit] Apartheid
She emerged as a leading opponent of the white minority rule government during the later years of her husband's long imprisonment (August 1963 – February 1990). For many of those years, she was exiled to the town of Brandfort in the Orange Free State and confined to the area, except for the times she was allowed to visit her husband at the prison on Robben Island.
Her reputation was damaged by what many considered her sometimes bloodthirsty rhetoric, the most noteworthy example of this being a speech she gave in Munsieville on April 13, 1985, where she endorsed the practice of necklacing in the struggle to end apartheid. She said, "with our boxes of matches and our necklaces we shall liberate this country".[2]
During the 1980s as well as the early 90s, she attracted immense national and international media attention and was interviewed by many foreign journalists as well as national journalists such as Jani Allan, then Leading Columnist of the Sunday Times (South Africa).
Further tarnishing her reputation were accusations by her bodyguard, Jerry Richardson, that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela ordered him to abduct and kill an alleged informer, 14 year old James Seipei (also known as Stompie Moeketsi) in January 1989. This incident became a cause célèbre for the apartheid government. In 1991, she was convicted of kidnapping and being an accessory to assault in connection with the death of Seipei. Her six-year jail sentence was reduced to a fine on appeal.
[edit] Post-Apartheid
During the transition from apartheid to democracy, she adopted a far less conciliatory attitude than her husband toward the previously dominant white community. The Mandelas' 38-year marriage ended in separation (April 1992) and divorce (March 1996). She then adopted the surname Madikizela-Mandela. Appointed Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology in the first post-Apartheid government (May 1994), she was dismissed eleven months later following allegations of corruption.[citation needed]
She remained popular among many ANC radicals, and, in December 1993 and April 1997, she was elected president of the ANC Women's League, though she withdrew her candidacy for ANC Deputy President at the movement's Mafikeng conference in December 1997.
In 1997, she appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Archbishop Desmond Tutu as chair of the commission recognised her importance in the anti-apartheid struggle, but also begged her to apologize and to admit her mistakes. In a guarded response, she echoed his words, admitting that 'things went horribly wrong'.
[edit] Fraud conviction
On April 24, 2003, she was found guilty on 43 counts of fraud and 25 of theft, and her broker, Addy Moolman, was convicted on 58 counts of fraud and 25 of theft. Both had pleaded not guilty to the charges, which related to money taken from loan applicants' accounts for a funeral fund, but from which the applicants did not benefit. Madikizela-Mandela was sentenced to five years in prison.[3]
Shortly after the conviction, she resigned from all leadership positions in the ANC, including her parliamentary seat and the presidency of the ANC Women's League.[4]
In July 2004, an appeal judge of the Pretoria High Court ruled that "the crimes were not committed for personal gain". The judge overturned the conviction for theft, but upheld the one for fraud, handing her a three years and six months suspended sentence.[5]
[edit] Visa Denial by Canada
In June 2007, the Canadian High Commission in South Africa declined to grant Winnie Mandela a visa to travel to Toronto, Canada, where she was scheduled to attend the world premiere of The Passion of Winnie[2] an opera based on her life and a gala fundraising concert organised by arts organization MusicaNoir.[6]
[edit] Election to ANC National National Executive Committee
When the ANC announced the election of its National Executive Committee on December 21, 2007 Mandela came in first place with 2845 votes.[7][8]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Reported in Diabetes Health, 2000[1]
- ^ "Row over 'mother of the nation' Winnie Mandela", The Guardian, January 27, 1989.
- ^ "ANC: We won't dump Winnie", Sunday Times (South Africa), April 27, 2003.
- ^ "Winnie Mandela resigns ANC posts", CNN, April 25, 2003.
- ^ "Winnie: No personal gain", News24, May 7, 2004.
- ^ "Winnie Mandela denied entry to Canada for arts gala", CBC.ca, 2007-06-05. Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
- ^ Newly-elected National Executive Committee,ANC Website, Retrieved on December 21, 2007
- ^ Winnie Mandela tops ANC election list, The Times, December 21, 2007, Retrieved on December 21, 2007
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Michael Kelly |
Rector of the University of Glasgow 1987–1990 |
Succeeded by Pat Kane |
|
||||||||||||||||
