Winifred Madikizela
Had it not been for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, it is very likely that
Nelson would have never emerged alive from SA Apartheid’s Robben Island. For a period
in the late 1970s and mid 1980s, though she had been banished to the town of
Brandfort in the Orange Free State and confined to the area, this faithful wife
and rights champion visited her husband, Nelson, on Robben Island.
When he was released in the 1990s, Nelson Mandela deserted his wife of
nearly four decades (1958-1996).
Mother of her Nation
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nder Apartheid Winifred “Winnie” Madikizela-Mandela was harassed and
imprisoned many times (on one occasion jailed in the Pretoria Central Prison for
493 days, much of that time in solitary confinement, tortured and beaten). Yet
this determined anti-Apartheid leader, affectionately honored as “Mother of the
Nation,” and promoted by the African National Congress (ANC) as a symbol of
their struggle against apartheid, helped organize a primary school and a clinic,
and campaigned actively and continuously for equal rights. As a serving member
of the ANC political party, Winnie Mandela was a member of the ANC’s National
Executive Committee and headed its Women’s League. In the 1990s until her
death, she was a deputy minister (1994-1996) and a Member of Parliament (1994-
2003, 2009-2018).
The divorce of Nelson and Winnie was finalized in 1996 after Nelson’s
1990 release from prison. Later, in his position as head of state, the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) established by his government to investigate
“human rights abuses,” concluded that Madikizela-Mandela had been “‘politically
and morally accountable” for “her security detail’s … gross violations of human
rights.”
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ne wonders if US President Obama would have been held accountable for his
security detail and Secretary of State’s abuses and assassinations.
Johns on government
payroll: The Guardian (US edition) April 15, 2012 “US secret service scandal
overshadows Obama trip: Eleven agents [President Obama’s security detail] sent
home from Summit of the Americas in Colombia while prostitution scandal is
investigated.” Reportedly following complaints
by a prostitute not paid for her services, “local police were called to the
Hotel Caribe in Cartagena’s up-market Bocagrande neighborhood after a dispute
with a woman in the room of one of the agents.”
WORSE: Assassins on government
payroll: The Telegraph (UK) October 26, 2011: the “… killing of Muammar Gaddafi
shows need for ‘decorum’ with dead” – US “President Barack Obama has defended
the US role in bringing down [that is, murdering] Libyan [president] Muammar
Gaddafi….”
Interestingly enough, the former US president was reportedly in South
Africa this week lauding the Mandela who is deemed laudable.
Deserted, Beaten, Unbowed
Winnie Mandela was beaten by the apartheid police, an assault causing back
injury and chronic pain (remember Fannie
Lou Hamer?) that led to the development (remember
Betty Ford?) of “an addiction to painkillers and alcohol.”
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innie Mandela was a recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy
Human Rights Award for her human rights work in South Africa; and recipient of a
Candace Award for Distinguished Service. The Candace (pronounced can-DAY-say) originally
referred to “the ancient Ethiopian title for queen or empress.” The awards ceremony
taking that name was held annually at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York City to recognize “uncommon distinction,” people who “set a standard of
excellence for young people of all races.”
The University Council and University Senate of Makerere
University (Kampala, Uganda) in January 2018 “approved the award of an honorary
Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree to Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela, in recognition
of her fight against apartheid in South Africa.”
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innie Madikizela-Mandela OLS MP (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe
Madikizela; her Xhosa named, “Nomzamo,” translated means “She who tries”) was a distinguished South African
politician and activist.
Winnie Mandela was recipient of the “Order of Luthuli” (OLS),
a South African honor granted by the president of South Africa for
contributions to South Africa in the fields of: the struggle for democracy, building
democracy and human rights, nation-building, justice and peace, and conflict
resolution. Its three classes: Gold (OLG), for exceptional contributions; Silver
(OLS), for excellent contributions; Bronze (OLB), for outstanding
contributions. She was also a Member of
Parliament (MP), South Africa’s legislature composed of the National Assembly
and the National Council of Provinces.
Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela was born of teachers in the village of Mbongweni (Bizana, Pondoland). Credentialed in social work and international relations, her early career years
were in social work at the Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa. Her
lifetime: September 26, 1936-April 2, 2018.
Sources
News peg July 18, 2018 a segment of Going Underground AfshinRattansi marks
the “100th birthday of Nelson Mandela” in a discussion with former Tony Blair
cabinet minister Lord Hain https://www.rt.com/shows/going-underground/433574-mandela-birthday-apartheid-struggle/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie_Madikizela-Mandela
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/15/us-secret-service-scandal-obama
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/8849663/Barack-Obama-killing-of-Muammar-Gaddafi-shows-need-for-decorum-with-dead.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candace_Award
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Luthuli
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_South_Africa
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