Monday, April 02, 2018

MADIKIZELA-MANDELA A ‘VOICE OF THE VOICELESS, CHAMPION OF JUSTICE & EQUALITY’
The woman affectionately known to millions of South Africans as the Mother Of The Nation passed away on Monday afternoon at the Milpark Hospital surrounded by her family.

Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG - The late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is being remembered on Monday evening as a voice for the voiceless, a champion of justice and equality and a symbol of the struggle against apartheid.

The woman affectionately known to millions of South Africans as the Mother Of The Nation passed away on Monday afternoon at the Milpark Hospital surrounded by her family.

The struggle stalwart had been in and out of the facility, battling a recurring kidney infection.

Leading tributes is President Cyril Ramaphosa who says the country has lost a hero.

“Even at the deepest moments of our struggle for liberation, mam’ Winnie was an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free. In the midst of repression, she was a voice of defiance and resistance.”

African National Congress secretary-general Ace Magashule says Madikizela-Mandela's spirit encouraged freedom fighters and inspired both young and old.

“Comrade Winnie Madikizela-Mandela dedicated her life to the betterment of her people and she worked for the realisation right to until the end of her life. She was an inspiration to both young and old who shared her vision of an egalitarian prosperous and free South Africa.”

Opposition parties have also paid tribute to Madikizela-Mandela with the United Democratic Movement praising her as a feisty and vocal freedom fighter, while the Democratic Alliance has expressed its sadness.

Party leader Mmusi Maimane said: “We join the continent, the people of this country and certainly the freedom fighters all over the world in mourning and we certainly owe a great deal of gratitude as a country but also we need to celebrate her life and continue the values of the struggle that she stood for.”

The Nelson Mandela Foundation has described Madikizela-Mandela's passing as a blow.

In a statement, the foundation says the woman many referred to as the Mother of the Nation travelled a long road with her former husband and fellow anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela.

The foundation’s chairman professor Njabulo Ndebele says all South Africans are indebted to Madikizela-Mandela.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has sent his message of condolences, hailing Madikizela-Mandela as a defining symbol of the struggle against apartheid.

Meanwhile, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation has described Madikizela-Mandela as an iconic symbol against apartheid, whose militancy, courage and defiance kept the struggle alive.

Political analyst Vukani Mde says Madikizela-Mandela was an inspiration for as someone who fought the apartheid system.

“There is an entire generation of South African who were young then who credit her with their own political consciousness because she raised them as politically conscious people. People who would have been lost to the struggle for liberation.”

The atmosphere outside the struggle hero’s home isn’t showing signs of dying down, with local joining in dance and song.

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