South African anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, popularly known as Winnie Mandela has died at aged 81, according to information disclosed out by her personal assistant. The spokesman for the family, Victor Dlamini said in a statement:
“She died after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of the hospital since the start of the year. “She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones.”
Further information revealed that former wife of the late Nelson Mandela had been “in and out of the hospital since the start of the year”.
Who was Winnie Mandela?
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.
Mrs. Madikizela-Mandela was born in 1936 in the Eastern Cape – then known as Transkei. She was a trained social worker when she met her future husband in the 1950s. They were married for a total of 38 years, although for almost three decades of that time they were separated due to Mr. Mandela’s imprisonment.