Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was laid to rest on Saturday following her death aged 81 on April 2 Among the many mourners was Naomi Campbell, who struggled to hold back her rears as she delivered a moving speech during the ceremony in Orlando Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg. The model’s tribute after her death was announced lead the way as celebrities flooded social media for the late South African anti-apartheid campaigner, who was married to Nelson Mandela for 40 years. As mourners said a final goodbye to the late civil rights activists a military procession escorted her coffin out of the stadium in the city.
Naomi Campbell, who delivered an emotional speech, was unable to hold back tears at the official funeral. Speaking about her friend, the 47-year-old said: ‘We are lucky to have witnessed her greatness, her courage, her fearlessness and her strength. ‘Let freedom reign, God bless Winnie Mandela.’ Her voice broke down with sadness as she continued: ‘May you rest in the greatness of the kingdom of God, next to the most extraordinary people. I love you. Thank you.’ The state funeral included speeches from her two children and saw military personnel and dignitaries wheel the casket.
The coffin, which was draped in a South African flag, was met by crowds who gathered on the streets ahead of the service to say a final farewell to the late Member of South African Parliament. After the service, she was moved to her final resting place. Winnie was born in September 1936, in Mbongweni, South Africa. After finishing university, she became the first qualified social worker at Johannesburg’s Baragwanath Hospital. Soon after, she met Nelson Mandela at a bus stop in Soweto, when she was 22, and they tied the knot in the summer of 1958.
However, he was later forced underground, after being pursued by apartheid authorities. Most of their marriage was spent apart, with her husband imprisoned for 27 years – with Winnie raising their two daughters alone while trying to keep his political dream alive. Nelson finally walked out of prison in 1990, with his wife firmly by his side. However, the couple separated just two years later, and divorced in 1996.
Throughout the height of apartheid, she remained at the forefront of the battle, urging others to carry on the fight ‘to the bitter end’ – and she later became known as the ‘Mother of the Nation’. She was arrested for the first time while protesting the pass system that restricted movements of black people in white-designated areas. Winnie’s activism and battle to end apartheid was also mired by controversy, and she was frequently linked to ‘necklacing’ – placing a petrol-soaked car tyre around the necks of traitors, and setting it alight. In 1991, she was convicted of kidnapping and assault over the killing of a 14-year-old boy, who was suspected of being a traitor. She vowed she had no part in the murders, when appearing before Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, and she was later given a fine. Speaking about her past, during a candid interview, she admitted her experiences had ‘hardened’ her.
‘The years of imprisonment hardened me,’ she said. Perhaps if you have been given a moment to hold back and wait for the next blow, your emotions wouldn’t be blunted as they have been in my case. ‘When it happens every day of your life, when that pain becomes a way of life, I no longer have the emotion of fear… there is no longer anything I can fear. ‘There is nothing the government has not done to me. There isn’t any pain I haven’t known.’
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