Tributed to Winnie Madikizela Mandela the mother of the Nation.

Winnie Madikizela Mandela, icon of the struggle against the apartheid regime and ex-wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, died at the age of 81 on 2 April 2018. Mama Winnie leaves behind her two children. She was 22 when she met the hero Nelson Mandela at Soweto, who was 16 years older than her. Mrs. Winnie Madikizela Mandela died at Johannesburg’s Milpark Hospital following a long illness that caused her to be hospitalized many times this year.

Mama Winnie is first known for her heroic passion for freedom and equality. Activist by nature, mama Winnie is also a great figure in African politics by her commitment to the struggle for the liberation of the black people in South Africa against the apartheid regime. However, it has had some ups and downs in its public engagement against the repression and European colonization of South Africa.

During the years of imprisonment of her husband Nelson Mandela, mama Winnie pledged to organize actions against the supporters of the segregationist regime of apartheid. She encouraged Black People to support themselves with self-defense actions to continue to pressure the regime.

Winnie has not abandonned hope during those hard time of colonialisation as mother and witness of her own history of poverty and abuse by whites who confiscated lands in South Africa. She is a heroine for the African woman and for the world culture of freedom. She gave herself body and soul in perseverance to see her people free from the policy of racial injustice imposed on blacks for decades.

Some people will say that mama Winnie is an inspirer and one of the last witnesses to change the destiny of Africa since European colonization. Her departure leaves us with a duty of memory but also legends an indisputable courage to persevere in the fight especially when the cause of the struggle is right.

Tributes are pouring from all over the world starting by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, opposition leaders and civil society. On our behalf, AMAGEP South Africa recognizes Winnie as an Iron Lady who has held her head high for the emancipation of black people, the economic liberation of Africa and the promotion of women’s rights.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday greeted the memory of Winnie Mandela saying, “We have lost a mother, a grandmother, a friend, a classmate, a leader and an icon”. Current President Cyril Ramaphosa was one of Nelson Mandela’s close collaborators who helped negotiate the peaceful transition from the end of apartheid to the democracy that saw Nelson Mandela elected as the first president of the nation.

In 1988, the late Papa Wemba sang in honour of iconic black leaders including mama Winnie Mandela the song “Slave”. In this time of sorrow, we AMAGEP SOUTH AFRICA Administrators, join our prayers to the South African people, to the whole Africa and to the activists of the world to mourn and celebrate the life of mama Winnie Mandela together.

Although Mama Winnie divorced Nelson Mandela in 1996 after 40 years of marriage, she remained a member of her African National Congress (ANC) party until her death. It is however a heroine for everyone without distinction of political affiliation.