President Cyril Ramaphosa is among leaders sending warm tributes to the late struggle stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela on what would have been her 83rd birthday.
In a tweet on Thursday morning, Ramaphosa described Madikizela-Mandela as a “freedom fighter and revolutionary.”
Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, hailed her as the “doyen of the national democratic movement.”
He added, “Mama weSizwe, you have been gone for some time but your people have never forgotten you. Your spirit lives on in our hearts.”
‘Liberator, a freedom fighter’
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) also tweeted, “Revolutionary Happy Birthday to a liberator, a freedom fighter, and mother of the nation, Mama Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.”
EFF leader Julius Malema tweeted a similar tribute.
Minister of State Security Ayanda Dlodlo remembered Madikizela-Mandela as an uMkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) operative.
She carried her two children on her back and carried the liberation struggle on her shoulders.
She was an MK operative, a resistance fighter and a full-time mother. For years she was the courageously defiant voice of the struggle internally.
Ayanda Dlodlo
ANCWL celebrates Winnie Mandela
The African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) in Gauteng is celebrating the day by visiting the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Special School in Soweto, Gauteng.
ANC leaders such as Bathabile Dlamini and Nomvula Mokonyane are gracing the event.
Madikizela-Mandela passed away in April 2018 aged 81.
She left behind a towering legacy in the anti-apartheid struggle and as a post-apartheid leader.