Winnie Mandela, Nelson Mandela's Wife Dies At 81

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, divorced wife of Nelson Mandela has died on Easter Monday, today aged 8, her personal assistant Zodwa Zwane revealed this evening

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Earlier this year, Nelson Mandela's ex-wife was hospitalized for a kidney ailment and exhaustion.

She was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital in January, after complaining of a 'loss of appetite' and that 'one of her legs was painful'.

Madikizela-Mandela had also been in and out of hospital since 2016 for back and knee surgery.

She married Nelson Mandela in 1956, six years before he was imprisoned for his fight against apartheid in 1962.

During her ex-husband's 27-year imprisonment, Ms Madikizela-Mandela campaigned for his release and the rights of black South Africans.

She became a symbol for the anti-apartheid struggle. She was arrested several times.

She walked along with her husband till his 1990 release, as he became South Africa's president in the first post-apartheid elections.

IN 1996, Mandela divorced her and fired her as deputy minister of arts and culture, but she kept his name and stayed close to her ex-husband even until his death.