MADIKIZELA-MANDELA
NATASHA MARRIAN: From inzile to isolated radical, death brought Winnie into the fold
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s fractious relationship with the ANC has come under the spotlight since her death, as ANC leaders continue to pay fulsome tribute. Among the outpouring was an irate statement from the EFF describing her as the "brick the builders rejected". The comment harks back to the difficulties she faced with the ANC, from her axing as a deputy minister to her treatment at the party’s 1997 conference, where former president Jacob Zuma was elected ANC deputy president. Madikizela-Mandela was meant to contest the post, and her ardent loyalists argue that the decade of misrule under Zuma might have been averted had she stood and won.EFF leader Julius Malema said this week Madikizela-Mandela was deprived of the chance of becoming the party’s first female president, in a conspiracy to keep her out of power. Zuma, he said, "stole" the deputy position. Former president Thabo Mbeki weighed in during an interview with eNCA on Tuesday, saying Madikizela-Mandela was not elected ...
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