South Africa bids emotional farewell to ‘Mama’ Winnie Mandela
SOWETO: Thousands of mourners flocked on Wednesday to the heart of South Africa’s sprawling Soweto township, a centre of anti-apartheid resistance, to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela’s former wife and struggle hero Winnie Mandela.
Her grandson Bambatha Mandela described Winnie, who died on April 2 after a long illness, as “an extraordinary woman, a mother, a soldier, a fighter”.
“Even at 81 [she] was one person I thought would live forever,” he said in an emotional tribute. “I had the privilege of being the first grandchild they could raise after [Nelson Mandela] returned from prison.”
The choice of Soweto’s 37,000-capacity Orlando stadium for both the memorial service and the full state funeral planned for Saturday was highly symbolic.
Unlike many struggle-era leaders who moved from townships like Soweto to formerly white suburbs after apartheid fell, Winnie Mandela remained embedded in the community where she met Nelson Mandela at a bus stop in 1957.
“I don’t think I want to wake up alongside my enemies,” Bambatha remembered his grandmother as saying.