Leid Stories—Winnie Madikizela Mandela Dies at 81: What Manner of Woman?—04.03.18

Winnie Madikizela Mandela, who died yesterday afternoon at a hospital in Johannesburg after a long illness, will be honored with a state funeral on April 14, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced yesterday. The announcement touched off new waves of emotion over whether such an honor should be bestowed on the nation’s former first lady, a freedom fighter who came to be known as the “Mother of the Nation,” but who also emerged as a central figure in several major plots to grab power and ruthlessly target political enemies.

However history sees Winnie Mandela, it cannot erase her role in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and beyond its borders. Leid Stories, conceding that we do not know all there is to know about Winnie Mandela, discuss her place in modern history.