South Africa’s anti-apartheid heroine Winnie Mandela laid to rest

The afternoon burial ceremony at Fourways Memorial Park Cemetery, north of Johannesburg, ended a nearly two-week mourning period declared by the government.

Earlier, mourners sang and cheered as Madikizela-Mandela’s body was brought into the 40,000-seat Orlando stadium, filled to capacity for the funeral service.

Many mourners were clad in the green and yellow colors of the ANC. Members of the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party also attended in large numbers.

EFF leader Julius Malema, an admirer of Madikizela-Mandela who echoes her fiery rhetoric, said she had always put the country “above her own personal safety” in the fight against apartheid.

“She lived in constant naked contact with danger, prepared to lose her life, even the lives of her own children, who were put into danger by her political activities,” Malema said to loud cheers in the stadium.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *