Madikizela-Mandela’s death on April 2 at the age of 81 after a long illness was met by an outpouring of emotion across the country, with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and opposition parties holding memorials to remember her courage in the struggle to end white-minority rule.

The official funeral service for the ex-wife of the late Nelson Mandela took place on Saturday morning in Soweto — the Johannesburg township at the forefront of the battle against apartheid where she lived.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said that, just as South Africa grieved for Madikizela-Mandela, it was comforted by the profound meaning of her life.

“In death, she has demonstrated that our many differences along political party and racial lines and the numerous disputes we may have are eclipsed by our shared desire to follow her lead in building a just, equitable and caring society,” he said.

“Loudly and without apology, she spoke truth to power. It was those in power who, insecure and fearful, visited upon her the most vindictive and callous retribution. Yet, through everything, she endured. They could not break her. They could not silence her.”

The afternoon burial ceremony at Fourways Memorial Park Cemetery, north of Johannesburg, ended a nearly two-week mourning period declared by the government.

Earlier, mourners sang and cheered as Madikizela-Mandela’s body was brought into the 40,000-seat Orlando stadium, filled to capacity for the funeral service.

Many mourners were clad in the green and yellow colors of the ANC. Members of the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party also attended in large numbers.

EFF leader Julius Malema, an admirer of Madikizela-Mandela who echoes her fiery rhetoric, said she had always put the country “above her own personal safety” in the fight against apartheid.

“She lived in constant naked contact with danger, prepared to lose her life, even the lives of her own children, who were put into danger by her political activities,” Malema said to loud cheers in the stadium.

During Mandela’s 27-year incarceration for his fight against apartheid, Madikizela-Mandela campaigned for his release and for the rights of black South Africans undergoing detention, banishment and arrest.

“I appreciate many things about her. She represents a fighting spirit because, even though she lived through the apartheid era, she never gave up,” said 20-year old college student Gift Mokale. “I’m very grateful to be here today.”

Also present at the funeral service were former presidents Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma, dignitaries from African countries and celebrities such as British supermodel Naomi Campbell and U.S. civil rights activist Jesse Jackson.

For many South Africans, the most memorable image of Madikizela-Mandela is of her punching the air in a clenched-fist salute as she walked hand-in-hand with Mandela out of Victor Verster prison, near Cape Town, on Feb. 11, 1990.

For husband and wife, it was a crowning moment that led four years later to the end of centuries of white domination when Mandela became South Africa’s first black president.

Madikizela-Mandela’s legacy, however, was later tarnished.

As evidence emerged in the dying years of apartheid of the brutality of her Soweto enforcers, known as the “Mandela United Football Club”, some South Africans questioned her ‘Mother of the Nation’ soubriquet.

In 1991, Madikizela-Mandela was convicted of kidnapping and being an accessory to assault, but her six-year jail sentence was reduced to a fine and a two-year suspended sentence on appeal.

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Madikizela-Mandela died on Monday at a private hospital after a long illness.

She was married to the late South African President Nelson Mandela.

Many from government, private sector and civil society described Madikizela Mandela as a brave, courageous and true hero of South Africa’s liberation.

South African former President Thabo Mbeki described Madikizela Mandela as an outstanding militant and leader of the struggle for liberation.

Madikizela-Mandela served as the Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology and as a member of Parliament.

She was also the former ANC Women’s League president.

National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union which represents social workers and other health workers also mourned Madikizela Mandela.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said said Mdikizela-Mandela will receive an official state funeral on April 14.

Also, the Congress of the People leader Mosiuoa Lekota said: “I received with shock and great sadness the news of Winnie Madikizela’s passing.

“She is an outstanding symbol and champion of racial and gender issues.

“She is an inspiration to all South Africans – to stand up and emulate the strength and audacity with which she fought for the rights of people in this country. May God let her rest in peace.”

‘A liberation stalwart of epic stature’

In another message, the Democratic Alliance’s Mmusi Maimane said: “It is a deeply sad occasion for the people of South Africa.

“This was someone who has run an incredible race. It is not only us as South Africans, but the continent as well as the global village, that have experienced a loss.”

Maimane extended his condolences to the family.

Other politicians took to social media platforms to express their sadness over Madikizela-Mandela’s death.

The Inkatha Freedom Party’s Mkhuleko Hlengwa tweeted: “A sad loss indeed… May #WinnieMandela now rest in God’s perfect peace.

Cooperative Governance Minister Zweli Mkhize tweeted: “#WinnieMandela “Struggle Icon, freedom fighter, Mother of our nation … May her soul rest in eternal peace.”

Zelda la Grange, the former private secretary to Nelson Mandela, also sent her sincere condolences.

“They say life can never be the same after the death of one’s mother, irrespective of your relationship with her.”

La Grange said South Africans had lost a mother today.

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The President noted that she was a woman of uncommon determination, steadfastness and perseverance who held aloft the torch of the struggle against institutionalised discrimination even while her ex-husband, the late Madiba, President Nelson Mandela was incarcerated.

President Buhari, on behalf of the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, commiserated with the family of the deceased, the government and people of South Africa, urging them to be consoled by the knowledge that the late Winnie Mandela’s contributions to ending apartheid will not be forgotten.

According to him, she remained a pride not only to the African woman, but indeed all Africans.

The President prayed that God Almighty will comfort all those who mourn the departed and grant her soul eternal rest.

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Times Live, quoting her spokesman Victor Dlamini, said the 81-year-old had complained of a “loss of appetite” and that “one of her legs was painful”.

She was taken to Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg on Sunday.

“Upon admission‚ it was discovered that she had an infection that had affected her kidneys.

“She is expected to make a full recovery and should spend approximately a week at the hospital‚” Dlamini was quoted as saying in a statement on Tuesday night.

Madikizela-Mandela’s personal assistant, Zodwa Zwane, directed all queries to Dlamini, who was not immediately available for comment.

Madikizela-Mandela, ex-wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela, has been in and out of hospital since 2016 for back and knee surgery.

During her ex-husband’s 27-year imprisonment for his fight against apartheid, Madikizela-Mandela campaigned for his release and the rights of black South Africans, undergoing arrest and banishment.

White minority rule ended in 1994.

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The incident reportedly happened over the weekend.

The girl’s family spokesperson, who spoke to South Africa’s Daily Sun, said that the teen went to the toilet when Mandela’s grandson, who can’t be named before he appears in court, grabbed her and raped her inside one of the toilets.

Upon learning of the alleged rape, the girl’s father attempted to open a criminal case but was intimidated by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s bodyguard.

Madikizela-Mandela apparently asked the girl’s family to give her family time to deal with the issue. “Instead, Winnie’s bodyguard went to the family pretending to be a cop,” said the girl’s family spokesperson.

“The father was told there was no need to arrest the suspect but when the father asked to see his badge, he didn’t have one. It turned out he had been sent by Winnie,”

“Just because they have a famous surname, they think they can get away with crime,” he said.

Gauteng police spokesman Brigadier Mashadi Selepe said a case of rape was opened on 14 August and the suspect will appear on Monday.

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“Winnie Madikizela-Mandela misled the public about the custom of the Kingdom of AbaThembu,” spokesperson Chief Daludumo Mtirara was quoted saying.

Mtirara said former president Nelson Mandela pronounced to the Thembu nation six years ago that his grandson Mandla Mandela was the head of the family and the traditional spear was handed over to him.

“The royal family of the Kingdom of AbaThembu recognises Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela as the head of the Mandela family,” he said.

On Wednesday, Madikizela-Mandela expressed disappointment at the media’s interference with the matters of the Mandela family.

She said through her spokesperson, Thato Mmereki, that there was no succession or dynasty debate in the Mandela family.

Nelson Mandela died on 5 December in his Houghton home in Johannesburg and was buried in Qunu in the Eastern Cape on Sunday.

Mandela was survived by his three daughters Makaziwe, Zenani Dlamini-Mandela and Zindziswa Mandela.

In her statement Madikizela-Mandela said in accordance with customary law and tradition, the eldest daughter, Makaziwe, would head the family and would make decisions with the support of her two sisters.

“To this end there is no misunderstanding, or debate. Mandla Mandela is respected as one of Nelson Mandela’s grandchildren, the next generation of the Mandela family,” Mmereki said in a statement at the time.

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Mandela, 95, led South Africa’s transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison. He had been receiving intense home-based medical care for a lung infection after three months in hospital.

In a statement on South African national TV, President Zuma said that Mandela had “departed” and was at peace.

Nelson Mandela’s home in South Africa, where the anti-apartheid icon has been receiving medical treatment since September, was a hub of activity Thursday as concern grew over his condition.

A tribal elder was seen at the Johannesburg home, and emergency vehicles were seen outside. Media and local residents were gathering outside. The activity at the ex-president’s home was unusual but there was no official word on whether his condition had changed.

Mandela, 95, spent three months in the hospital with a recurrent lung infection earlier this year but he was released in September. Last month, South African President Jacob Zuma said Mandela was in “stable but critical condition” was was continuing to respond to treatment.

Day earlier, his ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, had told South Africa’s Sunday Independent newspaper, that he was “quite ill” and could not talk because of tubes in his mouth to clear fluid from his lungs. “The bedroom there is like an ICU ward,” the newspaper quoted her as saying, adding that Mandela used facial movements to communicate.

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