Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the former wife of the late Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, died Monday in Johannesburg. She was 81.
Often called the “Mother of the Nation,” Madikizela-Mandela was beloved in the governing African National Congress party for her part in campaigning for the release of Mandela during his 27 years in prison under apartheid.
But she left a controversial legacy because of her role in the death of a teenage South African boy, Stompie Moeketsi, who was abducted and killed by her thuggish bodyguards in Soweto in 1989.
Madikizela-Mandela had been ill for a number of years and was recently admitted to a hospital in Johannesburg for treatment of a kidney infection.
“It is with profound sadness that we inform the public that Mrs. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela passed away at the Netcare Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa on Monday 2 April 2018,” said a statement from the Mandela family.
“She died after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of the hospital since the start of the year. She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones.”
Nelson Mandela died in 2013.
