Winifred Madikizela-Mandela, a celebrated South African anti-apartheid campaigner and a former wife to Nelson Mandela has died at the age of 81.
Winnie is understood to have died in Johannesburg, and reports indicate that the family is expected to issue a statement soon.
She is said to have died peacefully after a long illness for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year.
Winnie was born in the village of eMbongweni, Pondoland, in what is now South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province.
Winnie was born the fourth out of eight children, who included seven sisters and one brother.
She married Nelson Mandela in 1958, but got divorced in 1996.
Winnie’s ardent supporters nicknamed her the “Mother of the nation” for her role in the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa.
During Mandela’s time in prison‚ Winnie was not spared the reach of the apartheid forces. She was placed under house arrest and at one time banished to Brandfort‚ a town in the Free State.
An active politician herself, Winnie was elected as an MP after South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, and was appointed deputy minister of arts and culture.
She was however fired by Mandela after an unauthorized trip to Ghana.
