South African anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Mandela has died aged 81, her personal assistant says.<\/p>\n
Winnie Madikizela Mandela was the former wife of South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela.<\/p>\n
The couple – famously pictured hand-in-hand as Mr Mandela walked free from prison after 27 years – were a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle for nearly three decades.<\/p>\n
However, in later years her reputation became tainted legally and politically.
\nFamily spokesman Victor Dlamini said in a statement: “She died after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year.<\/p>\n
“She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones.”<\/p>\n
Nelson and Winnie Mandela on his release from prison in February 1990
\nMrs Mandela was born in 1936 in the Eastern Cape – then known as Transkei.<\/p>\n
She was a trained social worker when she met her future husband in the 1950s. They were married for a total of 38 years, although for almost three decades of that time they were separated due to Mr Mandela’s imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Despite their separation two years after his release, and their divorce in 1996, she kept his surname and maintained ties with him.<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South African anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Mandela has died aged 81, her personal assistant says. Winnie Madikizela Mandela was the former wife of South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela. The couple – famously pictured hand-in-hand as Mr Mandela walked free from prison after 27 years – were a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle for nearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"news-category":[323,322],"yoast_head":"\n