Winnie Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid activist and former wife of the late President Nelson Mandela, died at the age of 81, a family member told CNN on April 2, 2018./Gulshah Khan/AFP/Getty Images
Stories this photo appears in:
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela reveals South Africa's uncomfortable truths
In 2010, when Alice Walker was in South Africa to deliver the annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture, I was invited to interview the great American writer. It was Walker's first visit to the country, and for reasons I could not fathom at the time, the director of the Steve Biko Foundation presented me with a list of subjects that were off-limits. Top of the list was Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Winnie Mandela, South African anti-apartheid activist, dies at 81
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid activist and former wife of the late President Nelson Mandela, has died at the age of 81. The family said in a statement that she passed away at the Netcare Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year.
