This article gives some insight into why she will always be the Mother of the nation.
www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/winnie-mandelas-power-lay-in-her-empathy-14231635

I don't understand how anyone with struggle credentials gets a free pass and become saints after evil deeds. I've heard the same defense of Zuma's theft. "Oh but he liberated people. So it absolves him of his crimes somehow?

When Oscar Pistorius (a hero, icon and inspiration to millions of both disabled and able bodied people) killed Riva, his reputation and name was completely destroyed. No sane person defends his action by saying "Look at the balance of the person". Or "He was put in difficult circumstances, but is good on the whole". He is a murderer. Period.

I had tons of respect for tata Madiba. There was a man with class and honor. But its no secret that Winnie necklaced scores of people and actively advocated for more violence, even AFTER 1994. I can never rejoice at anyone's death (like the poster), thats rather macabre and dark. But I am totally indifferent to it.

On 2018-04-04 10:12:48 bbw4me said:
This article gives some insight into why she will always be the Mother of the nation.
www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/winnie-mandelas-power-lay-in-her-empathy-14231635

Have you read "Walter & Albertina - In Our Lifetime" ?

I have greater admiration for Ma Albertina who did all of that and was never tainted with accusations of kidnapping and fraud. In my book, Albertina Sisulu will always be the Mother of the Nation. (Not negating all the contributions of other great women in the struggle against Apartheid. And there were many, black, white, colored, indian)

So easy to judge but before you do, try walking a mile in their shoes and see if you would cope! This is just an excerp about one cruel injustice she experienced at the hands of Apartheid agents:

"Winnie was banished to a dusty village, Brandfort, hundreds of miles from her Soweto home, and that, and an incident in 1969 broke her. In 1969, security branch came to her Soweto home at 3am. She was alone with her daughters, aged 10 and nine. Winnie asked to fetch her sister one street up so the girls would not be alone. The police refused, she was taken and her children left alone.
She spent 18 months in solitary confinement, naked, not allowed to wash, and not allowed out for exercises. She did not know what had become of her girls. When she would speak of this with me, her whole countenance would change. She was not allowed sanitary towels when she had periods, nor water or cloths to clean, and so the blood caked on her. She made friends with cockroaches. I've been in the cell at the Old Fort that she was held in. It is narrow with high, thick walls, it is oppressively dark when the door is closed, as it was for 18 months.
I believe she experienced profound Post Traumatic Stress. It was never treated"

Brandfort is less than 400km from Soweto. It is not on the other side of the world. Think it is max 300 miles from Soweto.

Did she suffer, yes. Did people suffer because of her yes.

A group of spineless, impotent, bitter men who have not a drop of courage in their pathetic bodies, spewing spitefully against an 81 year old fearless woman who refused to kowtow to her oppressors.

You bitter trolls should be falling on the ground giving thanks, that she did not bring her matches and necklaces into your suburbs and show you her brand of retribution.

You have been gloating for far too long over your racial superiority and privilege over the masses.

As for the Indian men joining the tirade name the Indian women who have fought harder and as fierce as this valiant Black woman against the oppressors of her people.

Get over your low patriarchal thinking that because she was a woman, wife, mother she should not have matched her enemies violence with her own brand of violence. That she should not even attempt to annilate the enemy. She was fighting a battle against the oppressors of her people and their enablers. During war you deal with your enemies, spies, traitors accordingly.

Why should she be judged harsher than those male police and soldiers who have killed thousands of innocent children, justifing that they were just doing their jobs, following instructions from higher authorities.

The difference is this woman, knew that she was equal, most probably smarter, braver than her oppressors and more capable than many of her comrades. She was definitely not going to cowardly submit after all the brutality she faced.

In my opinion she was far more courageous in facing her oppressors, than many of her male comrades.

On 2018-04-04 23:56:54 Sultry Indian Jiah said:
A group of spineless, impotent, bitter men who have not a drop of courage in their pathetic bodies, spewing spitefully against an 81 year old fearless woman who refused to kowtow to her oppressors.

You bitter bastards should be falling on the ground giving thanks, that she did not bring her matches and necklaces into your suburbs and show you her brand of retribution.

You have been gloating for far too long over your racial superiority and privilege over the masses.

As for the Indian men joining the tirade name the Indian women who have fought harder and as fierce as this valiant Black woman against the oppressors of her people.

Get over your low patriarchal thinking that because she was a woman, wife, mother she should not have matched her enemies violence with her own brand of violence. That she should not even attempt to annilate the enemy. She was fighting a battle against the oppressors of her people and their enablers. During war you deal with your enemies, spies, traitors accordingly.

Why should she be judged harsher than those male police and soldiers who have killed thousands of innocent children, justifing that they were just doing their jobs, following instructions from higher authorities.

The difference is this woman, knew that she was equal, most probably smarter, braver than her oppressors and more capable than many of her comrades. She was definitely not going to cowardly submit after all brutality she faced.

In my opinion she was far more courageous in facing her oppressors, than many of her male comrades.

She did kill a child... As a woman I cannot accept that and call her a hero. A woman's nature should be to protect. That child had nothing to do with the patriarchy, that child was not a racist or threatening her life. I cannot wrap my mind around that. I would take a bullet to spare a child anyday

@Kitty do you understand why Black people who have been the most oppressed and brutalized under the Apartheid era have every right to be angry at privileged White people, who still cannot process and accept the cruelty, brutality and gross human rights violations and crimes that were committed against them.

The ruthless, fearless, violent freedom fighter was a product of your White Apartheid government. They taught her about brutality and how to dish it out.

You judging her for fighting violence with violence is hypocritical. Are you ignorant of the fact that your Apartheid government killed thousands of innocent Black children not only in South Africa but many neighbouring and supporting African countries. Incidentally a few years ago a officer in the Apartheid intelligence service recorded a statement that they were instructed to infiltrate her soccer club to get her arrested for murder. The man who murdered the child was a police informer. When the child activist was picked up and taken in for questioning he saw the informant, who convinced Winnie that the child was being used as a spy.

She has admitted that she was wrong in not listening to the child and for not protecting him. The White Apartheid government have still not disclosed what happened to the bodies of the thousands that they have tortured and murdered.

Why is it so difficult for you and others of the same mindset to understand, accept and empathise with the masses of the nation who recognise and honour her for fighting so fiercely for their right to equality, freedom and dignity.

Winnie's whole public persona is a manufactured narrative by STRATCOM and the Apartheid intelligence agencies. A lot of the image that many of us have consumed about her jas been orchestrated. The hatred towards her is as a result of her lack of interest in the way both the TRC and CODESA processes were handled.

Winnie was by far the biggest thorn on the Apartheid regime's side. She was brutally treated and tortured as the longest serving detainee without trial in SA. Solitary confinement for 491 days would break many people. And after being targeted and mistreated by the Apartheid government agents, she was meant to have been broken and go away into exile. She chose to stay in the country and resist Apartheid as an injustice against humanity. This clearly angered the Apartheid government as she sought to make the country ungovernable.

Winnie is not a saint, but so are many heroes who were fighting for the liberation of the people of SA.

The Stompie matter is a sad chapter in her life, but it has since come to light that Jerry Richardson who was a police spy killed him because Stompie had 'made him' as a police informant. There's a doccie on YouTube called Winnie you can watch to corroborate this.

For many non black people, the cruelty and dehumanising nature of Apartheid and its laws is clearly still hard to comprehend.
The majority of this country was systematically disenfranchised, exploited, dehumanised for centuries. On the basis of the melanin quotient in their bodies. And many lives were lost and families ripped apart because of fighting this injustice. Resistance to this meant many of these people were demonised, as Madiba was for 3 decades until the 90s, when he preferred a negotiated settlement to an armed conflict.

Non black South Africans must appreciate the serious hurt & damage done by Apartheid on the majority of this country. It was wrong! And that we had a relatively peaceful transition to democracy is a miracle. Let's be empathetic and understand fellow citizen's lived experiences. Otherwise this could be a tinderbox that could incinerate our beautiful country.

Winnie was no saint...but she was no devil either. She was human. Demanding respect and dignity. It wasn't given. She bravely fought for it - in her very own way.

Please try triangulate your information sources, it often helps forming own opinions as opposed to swallowing news reportage as whole truths. It helps a lot.

Cheers
D.S

On 2018-04-05 02:16:16 Sultry Indian Jiah said:
@Kitty do you understand why Black people who have been the most oppressed and brutalized under the Apartheid era have every right to be angry at privileged White people, who still cannot process and accept the cruelty, brutality and gross human rights violations and crimes that were committed against them.

The ruthless, fearless, violent freedom fighter was a product of your White Apartheid government. They taught her about brutality and how to dish it out.

You judging her for fighting violence with violence is hypocritical. Are you ignorant of the fact that your Apartheid government killed thousands of innocent Black children not only in South Africa but many neighbouring and supporting African countries. Incidentally a few years ago a officer in the Apartheid intelligence service recorded a statement that they were instructed to infiltrate her soccer club to get her arrested for murder. The man who murdered the child was a police informer. When the child activist was picked up and taken in for questioning he saw the informant, who convinced Winnie that the child was being used as a spy.

She has admitted that she was wrong in not listening to the child and for not protecting him. The White Apartheid government have still not disclosed what happened to the bodies of the thousands that they have tortured and murdered.

Why is it so difficult for you and others of the same mindset to understand, accept and empathise with the masses of the nation who recognise and honour her for fighting so fiercely for their right to equality, freedom and dignity.

So she became the very thing she hated? Will have to agree to disagree on what an amazing person she was. While you say non POC will not understand, I say as a woman I cannot understand killing a child. That's my two cents. As a white person who wasn't around for apartheid, I understand I can't have an opinion or understanding of what people went through under that regime. My comment comes as a woman who would die rather than harm a child