Communications Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has labelled accounts by some media houses of the life and times of struggle hero Winnie Madikizela-Mandela as "devoid of truth and a clear example of a lack of journalistic research".

In a statement released on Tuesday, a day after Madikizela-Mandela's death, Mokonyane said she had noted reports from a local broadcaster and some international news agencies which continue to use an apartheid era narrative to cast aspersions on Madikizela-Mandela's character.

"The attempt to present the legacy of this great liberation struggle stalwart as a compromised and divisive history is reminiscent of the stratum strategy to undermine what was a fight by Mama Winnie and her generation against a brutal apartheid regime whose killing machinery found enemies in children and adults alike on the sole basis of them being black," she added.

Mokonyane also condemned what she called a grossly gendered narrative that casts aside Madikizela-Mandela's status as a freedom fighter, and instead makes her role as the wife of Nelson Mandela her most important contribution.

"Media houses ought to report with the requisite sensitivity, historical facts and respect for the family and the millions of South Africans who through her efforts and fearless fight against apartheid won their freedom against oppression," she said.