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Premier David Makhura joins millions of South Africans and the international community in mourning the passing on of Mama Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. The Premier conveyed condolences to the Mandela and Madikizela families.

“The news about the passing of Mama Winnie Madikizela Mandela has left us with a profound sense of sadness. Mama Winnie was a fearless freedom fighter who had an unbreakable bond with the common men and women. She was deeply loyal  to the masses and always echoed the fears, frustrations and aspirations of ordinary people. It is for this reason that she was dearly loved by the masses who christened her “Mother of the Nation”.

“Too often people use the phrase ‘speaking truth to power’ too easily. Winnie Madikizela Mandela truly and fully spoke truth power during the apartheid years as well as under the democratic dispensation. She fiercely resisted apartheid tyranny and continued to speak out against wrongdoing in the government and her beloved movement. She constantly called leaders to come and explain themselves. No leader who embarrassed either the government or the ANC was ever spared a sharp rebuke from her”, said Premier Makhura.

For all her loyalty to the masses, Mama Winnie suffered severely in the brutal hands of the apartheid security police. She was detained repeatedly, tortured and banished but she never allowed the apartheid regime to break her.

“To many youth and student activists of the 1970s and 1980s, Mama Winnie was the only living symbol of resistance as she connected the youth with the ANC, whose leaders were either imprisoned or banned. At the height of apartheid repression in the mid-1980s, many activists travelled from all,over the country to seek guidance and refuge from her. She paid a huge prize for all her courage and uncompromising love of the masses.

After the dawn of democracy in 1994, Mama Winnie Madikizela Mandela continued to be the voice of the marginalized and the poor. She is one leader who could engage with angry communities in any part of the country and be listened to. The masses revered her consistency and enduring loyalty to them

She had been conferred with a number of awards for the role she played in the liberation struggle, the Order of Luthuli in Silver, which was conferred to her in 2016 during the National Order Awards.

On 08 March 2018, the Gauteng Provincial Government conferred her Lifetime Achievement Award for her sterling contribution to the development of women leadership.

Lala ngoxolo Mother of the Nation!

We will alway love you Mama!

Issued by the Gauteng Provincial Government