Winnie Mandela: South African Anti-apartheid passes on At 81

South African anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Mandela has died aged 81, her personal assistant says. Winnie Madikizela Mandela was the former wife of South Africa’s first Africa president, Nelson Mandela.

The couple – famously pictured hand-in-hand as Mr Mandela walked free of prison after 27 years – were a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle for pretty much three decades.

However, in later years her reputation became tainted legally and politically.

Family spokesman Victor Dlamini said in a statement: “She died after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year.