“They think because they have put my husband on an island that he will be forgotten. They are wrong. The harder they try to silence him, the louder I will become!” (Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 1962) Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, despite her husband being jailed, still fought for a free and equal South Africa. In 1993, she became the African National Congress (ANC) Women’s League’s president. Born Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela, she was the second wife to Nelson Mandela, a crusader against apartheid, and a government official.
Winnie Madikizela was married to Nelson Mandela for 38 years. After catching his eye at a bus stop in 1957, the couple wed in 1958. Most of their marriage, he was incarcerated. In “Winnie Mandela: the turbulent life of the woman who went from 'Mother of the Nation' to 'mugger'”, Adam Lusher states:
In 1961 Nelson Mandela went underground, earning a reputation as the “black pimpernel” while evading arrest as commander of the ANC’s armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation).
He was finally arrested in August 1962, and in 1964, after telling the court of his willingness to die for his ideals, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Winnie
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In 1969, Winnie would also be jailed – being called a terrorist - for fighting the control of the State. “Her courage would be tested. Over the next years she would be arrested, harassed and “banned” — forbidden from most social contact. She was the target of police informers.” (Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, South Africa’s ‘Mother of the Nation,’ dies at 81) Winnie spent 491 days in solitary confinement, where she was tortured. Nonetheless, Winnie continued to campaign after she was released; which landing her jailed for many times after. Tired of Winnie, the government exiled her. According to “Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, South Africa’s ‘Mother of the Nation,’ dies at