11 April 2018•Update: 11 April 2018
By Hassan Isilow
JOHANNESBURG
Thousands of South Africans have gathered at a stadium in Johannesburg to pay tribute to former anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela who died at the age of 81 earlier this month.
“The mother of the nation is gone. You are an embodiment of our struggle,” Deputy President David Mabuza said Wednesday at the official memorial service.
Mourners at the Orlando stadium in Soweto near Johannesburg sang and danced to celebrate the life of their heroine.
Mabuza said Winnie Mandela was a special person who loved her country to the extent of sacrificing her own life for the struggle of its freedom.
He praised the icon for teaching young women in the country that they are just as capable as men or even more able.
Winnie Mandela died on April 2 after a long illness‚ which had brought her in and out of hospital since the start of the year.
She was the ex-wife of the late Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president. She was one of the country’s greatest icons in the struggle against apartheid.
Her activism and resistance to white minority rule, known as apartheid landed her in jail on numerous occasions.
While Nelson Mandela was in jail for 27 years, she kept his memory alive throughout by protesting and mobilizing activists to fight apartheid.
Speaker after speaker praised her for her courage and determination in the fight against white domination.
“She gave us her life and commitment. She did not betray our struggle,” Jessie Duarte deputy secretary general of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) said.
Her grandchildren described her as the best grandmother in the world. She will be laid to rest on April 14 during a state funeral.
