Winnie Madikizela-Mandela: Difference between revisions

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{{Apartheid |people}}

 

 

In the mid-1980s, Madikizela-Mandela exerted a "reign of terror", and was "at the centre of an orgy of violence"<ref name="moruduBliveAccountability"/><ref name="fiveTimesLetDownMg">{{cite news|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-10-21-five-times-winnie-mandela-let-us-down|title=Five times Winnie Mandela has let us down|first=Verashni|last=Pillay|newspaper=Mail and Guardian}}</ref> in [[Soweto]], which led to condemnation by the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa,<ref name="latimesUdfDisown" /><ref name="isolatingCollectiveTimes2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-04-16-isolating-madikizela-mandela-was-not-my-decision-alone-says--mufamadi/|title=Isolating Madikizela-Mandela was not my decision alone' says Mufamadi|website=Times Live|date=16 April 2018|first=Penwell|last=Dlamini}}</ref><ref name="mdmStatement160289">{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/statement-by-mass-democratic-movement-on-winnie-mandela|title=Statement by Mass Democratic Movement on Winnie Mandela|last=kyle|date=22 February 2016|publisher=South African History Online|access-date=14 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408054018/http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/statement-by-mass-democratic-movement-on-winnie-mandela|archive-date=8 April 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="moruduBliveAccountability"/> and a rebuke by the ANC in exile.<ref name="nyTimesShedGuards" /><ref name="polticsWebAncMufcStatement1989">{{cite web|url=http://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/what-anc-said-about-winnie-mufc-and-stompie-at-the|title=What ANC said about Winnie, MUFC and Stompie at the time |website=Politicsweb.co.za|date=12 April 2018}}</ref> During this period, her home was burned down by residents of Soweto.<ref name="ghostsPoliticsweb">{{cite web|url=http://www.politicsweb.co.za/news-and-analysis/winnie-madikizelamandela-and-the-ghosts-of-crimes-|title=Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and the ghosts of crimes past |website=Politicsweb.co.za}}</ref> The [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] (TRC) established by Nelson Mandela's government to investigate human rights abuses found Madikizela-Mandela to have been "politically and morally accountable for the gross violations of human rights committed by the Mandela United Football Club", her security detail.<ref name="independentObitMotherMugger" /><ref name="truth-commission">{{cite web|url=http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/finalreport/Volume%202.pdf|title=Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report, Volume Two, Chapter 6 (pp. 543–82): Special Investigation: Mandela United Football Club|date=29 October 1998|access-date=10 July 2010|archive-date=4 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091104033712/http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/finalreport/Volume%202.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Madikizela-Mandela endorsed the [[necklacing]] of alleged police informers and apartheid government collaborators, and her security detail carried out [[kidnapping]], torture, and [[murder]],<ref name="trewhelaMoralProblemDailyMaverick">{{cite web|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2018-04-06-the-moral-problem-of-winnie-mandela/|title=The moral problem of Winnie Mandela|first=Paul|last=Trewhela|website=Dailymaverick.co.za|date=6 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="independentBodiesExhumed">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/bodies-exhumed-in-anc-murder-case-linked-to-winnie-mandela-8531758.html|title=Bodies exhumed in ANC 'murder' case linked to Winnie Mandela|date=12 March 2013|first=Nastasya |last=Tay|website=independent.co.uk}}</ref><ref name="moruduBliveAccountability"/> most notoriously the killing of 14-year-old [[Stompie Sepei]]<ref name="independentObitMotherMugger" /><ref name="mg2013bodies">{{cite web|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2013-03-15-00-bodies-probably-wont-bury-winnie|title=Bodies probably won't bury Winnie|first=Phillip De|last=Wet|website=Mail&Globe|date=15 March 2013}}</ref><ref name="guardianRoughJustice">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/apr/27/southafrica.andrewmalone|title=Rough justice for Winnie's victims|first=Andrew|last=Malone|date=27 April 2003|work=The Guardian}}</ref> whose kidnapping she was convicted of.<ref name="reutersTarnished"/>

[[Bizana, Eastern Cape|Bizana, Pondoland]], in what is now the [[Eastern Cape]] province. She was the fifth of nine children, seven sisters and a brother. Her parents, Columbus and Gertrude, who had a white father and Xhosa mother,<ref name="wapoResurrected1994"/> were both teachers. Columbus was a history teacher and a headmaster, and Gertrude was a domestic science teacher. Madikizela-Mandela went on to become the head girl at her high school in Bizana.<ref name="economistObit">{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21739937-anti-apartheid-campaigner-turned-soweto-mafia-matriarch-was-81-winnie-mandela-died-april|title=Winnie Mandela died on April 2nd|newspaper=The Economist}}</ref><ref name="theConversationNomzamoFromBizana">{{cite news|url=https://theconversation.com/nomzamo-from-bizana-remembering-winnie-madikizela-as-a-young-woman-94443|title=Nomzamo from Bizana: remembering Winnie Madikizela as a young woman|first=Vashna|last=Jagarnath|work=The Conversation}}</ref>

 

 

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 points of time at Bizana, Shawbury and [[Johannesburg]]. Her first job was as a social worker at [[Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital|Baragwanath Hospital]] in [[Soweto]].<ref name="BioBook">{{cite book|last=Preez Bezdrob|first=Anné Mariè|year= 2015|title=Winnie Mandela: A Life|location=South Africa|publisher=Penguin Random House|isbn=978-1868729265}}</ref>

Madikizela-Mandela returned to Soweto from Brandfort in late 1985, in defiance of a banning order.<ref name="nytReturnSoweto">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/23/world/winnie-mandela-jailed-for-return-to-soweto-home.html|title=Winnie Mandela Jailed for Return to Soweto Home|first=Alan|last=Cowell|newspaper=The New York Times|date=23 December 1985}}</ref> During her banishment, the [[United Democratic Front (South Africa)|United Democratic Front]] (UDF) and [[Congress of South African Trade Unions]] (CoSATU) had formed a mass-movement against apartheid.<ref name="mgJacobs2018">{{cite news|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2018-04-12-how-do-we-write-about-winnies-life-sympathetically|title=How do we write about Winnie's life sympathetically?|first=Sean|last=Jacobs|newspaper=Mail and Guardian}}</ref><ref name="capturedByPopulistPoliticsduPreez"/> The new organisations relied more heavily on collective decision-making structures, rather than on individual charisma.<ref name="mgJacobs2018"/> She took a more militaristic approach, eschewing the approach of the newer bodies, and began dressing in military garb, and surrounding herself with bodyguards: the Mandela United Football Club (MUFC).<ref name="mgJacobs2018"/> Living in Madikizela-Mandela's home, the putative "[[Association football|soccer]] team" began hearing family disputes and delivering "judgments" and "sentences", and eventually became associated with kidnapping, torture and murder.<ref name="mgJacobs2018"/> She was implicated in at least 15 deaths during this time period.<ref name="independent2018MartinMurderedSchoolboy"/><ref name="capturedByPopulistPoliticsduPreez">{{cite web|url=https://www.news24.com/Columnists/MaxduPreez/winnies-legacy-captured-by-populist-politics-20180417|title=Winnie's death captured by populist politics|publisher=News24|first=Max|last=Du Preez|date=17 April 2018|access-date=18 April 2018|archive-date=18 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418083632/https://www.news24.com/Columnists/MaxduPreez/winnies-legacy-captured-by-populist-politics-20180417|url-status=dead}}</ref>

 

|first=Paul|last= Martin|date=2 April 2018|newspaper=The Independent}}</ref><ref name="isolatingCollectiveTimes2018"/>

 

====Lolo Sono and Siboniso Shabalala====

 

====Seipei and Asvat killings====

{{see|Stompie Seipei|Abu Baker Asvat|Paul Verryn}}

 

In 1991, Mrs Mandela was acquitted of all but the kidnapping of Seipei.<ref name="theguardian1" /> A key witness, Katiza Cebekhulu,<ref name="saHistoryKatizaTrcTestify">{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/former-member-mandela-united-football-club-katiza-cebekhulu-appears-trc|title=Former member of the Mandela United Football Club, Katiza Cebekhulu appears before the TRC|last=sahoboss|date=16 March 2011|publisher=South African History Online}}</ref> who was going to testify that Madikizela-Mandela had killed Sepei, had been tortured and kidnapped to [[Zambia]] by her supporters prior to the trial, to prevent him testifying against her.<ref name="trewhelaMoralProblemDailyMaverick"/><ref name="katizaCarlinIndependent1997">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/alive-well-and-still-determined-to-nail-winnie-1287342.html|title=Alive, well – and still determined to nail Winnie|first=John|last= Carlin|date=7 December 1997|newspaper=The Independent}}</ref><ref name="truth-commission" /> Her six-year jail sentence was reduced to a fine on appeal.<ref name="guardianWinnieGuiltyFraud2003">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/apr/24/southafrica|title=Winnie Mandela found guilty of fraud|last=Staff and agencies|date=24 April 2003|website=The Guardian}}</ref>

 

==In popular culture==

 

Tina Lifford played her in the 1997 TV film ''[[Mandela and de Klerk]]''. [[Sophie Okonedo]] portrayed her in the [[BBC Television|BBC]] drama ''Mrs Mandela'', first broadcast on [[BBC Four]] on 25 January 2010.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Dowell, Ben|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/mar/11/bbc-commissions-winnie-mandela-drama|title=BBC commissions Winnie Mandela drama|work=The Guardian|location=UK|date=11 March 2009}}</ref>

[[Jennifer Hudson]] played her in ''[[Winnie Mandela (film)|Winnie Mandela]]'', directed by [[Darrell Roodt]], released in Canada by D Films on 16 September 2011. Roodt, Andre Pieterse, and Paul L. Johnson based the film's script on Anne Marie du Preez Bezdrob's biography, ''Winnie Mandela: A Life''.<ref>Fleming, Michael. (17 November 2009) [https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011521.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 "Jennifer Hudson to star in 'Winnie'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801050824/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011521.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 |date=1 August 2010 }}. ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''.</ref> The Creative Workers Union of South Africa opposed the choice of Hudson in the title role, saying the use of foreign actors to tell the country's stories undermined efforts to develop the [[Cinema of South Africa|national film industry]].<ref>Tartaglione, Nancy. (7 December 2009) [http://www.hollywood.com/news/movies/6175691/south-african-actors-up-in-arms-over-hudson-casting?page=all South African Actors Up In Arms over Hudson Casting | Movie News]. Hollywood.com.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/6751261/Jennifer-Hudson-should-not-star-in-Mandela-film-South-African-actors-say.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/6751261/Jennifer-Hudson-should-not-star-in-Mandela-film-South-African-actors-say.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Jennifer Hudson should not star in Mandela film, South African actors say|newspaper=Daily Telegraph|date=7 December 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Though the performances of Hudson and Terrance Howard, who portrayed Nelson Mandela, earned praise from many critics, the film was a critical and commercial failure.

 

 

Mandela was again portrayed in the 2013 film ''[[Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom]]'' by actress [[Naomie Harris]] (British actor [[Idris Elba]] played Nelson Mandela). On viewing the film, Madikizela-Mandela told Harris it was "the first time she felt her story had been captured on film". Gugulethu okaMseleku, writing in ''[[The Guardian]]'', stated that the film had returned Madikizela-Mandela to her rightful place, recognising her role in "the struggle" that, "for South African women&nbsp;... was more fundamental than her husband's."<ref>{{cite news | title= Long Walk to Freedom returns Winnie Mandela to her rightful place | url= https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/03/long-walk-to-freedom-winnie-mandela-nelson |newspaper=The Guardian |first=Gugulethu|last= okaMseleku|date=5 January 2014}}</ref>

* {{IMDb name|541692}}

* [https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73780409.html?dids=73780409:73780409&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=FEB+18%2C+1989&author=William+Claiborne&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Fall+of+Winnie+Mandela+Began+Nearly+2+Years+Ago%3B+Erratic+Behavior+Preceded+R "Fall of Winnie Mandela Began Nearly 2 Years Ago; Erratic Behavior Preceded Recent Violence"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006174728/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73780409.html?dids=73780409:73780409&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=FEB+18,+1989&author=William+Claiborne&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Fall+of+Winnie+Mandela+Began+Nearly+2+Years+Ago%3B+Erratic+Behavior+Preceded+R |date=6 October 2012 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 18 February 1989

* Alec Russell, [https://web.archive.org/web/20031103005310/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=%2Farchive%2F1997%2F12%2F05%2Fwin05.html "Mrs Mandela defies accusers"], ''Telegraph'', 5 December 1997

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100815073731/http://kaganof.com/kagablog/2008/01/09/special-investigation-into-the-mandela-united-football-club/ "Special Investigation into the Mandela United Football Club"], ''Kagablog'', 9 January 2008

* Emma Gilbey., [https://web.archive.org/web/20160228135801/http://the-write-stuff.com.au/archives/vol-1/reviews/winnie.html ''The Lady: the life and times of Winnie Mandela''], London: Vintage, 1994. {{ISBN|0-09-938801-4}}

[[Category:21st-century South African politicians]]

[[Category:People convicted of kidnapping]]

[[Category:South African activists]]

[[Category:South African women activists]]