Museveni extols late Winnie Mandela for being ANC’s face in her husband’s absence
President Museveni has heaped praise on the late Winnie Mandela for her role in fighting the Apartheid regime in South Africa.
Winnie, the former wife to South African anti-apartheid fighter and former president Nelson Mandela, died at the beginning of this month at the age of 81 in Johannesburg hospital after suffering a long illness.
Keep Reading
On Tuesday, Museveni paid a courtesy visit to the South African High Commission in Kampala before condoling with the acting South African envoy.
“She was a young and beautiful lady but when her husband was jailed whereas other fighters went into exile, she remained at home and became the face of ANC,”Museveni said on Tuesday.
Mandela was in 1962 arrested for conspiring to overthrow the government and sentenced to life imprisonment before serving 27 years in detention at Robben Island.
According to the president, when Mandela was sent to Robben Islands, many other people including Steven Biko came up to fight against the Anti –Apartheid but Mrs.Mandela remained the face of the party and continued with the fight despite being harassed by the regime in South Africa.
“I don’t know whether she had prepared for that role but she filled an indispensable gap in the struggle of our people .She became the rock of the struggle.”
Museveni threatened by De Clerk
When the NRA took over, they allowed the ANC to train its armed wing at the Oliver Reginald Tambo School of Leadership in Kaweweta.
When asked why he allowed African National Congress fighters to train from Uganda, Museveni said it was his duty to save fellow Africans from torture and slavery by the Whites.
“De Clerk wrote to threaten me but I said I was ready to face the threats. I could not leave the black people in South Africa who had been left with nothing after whites took over their land and power.”
Xolela Nofukuka, the acting High Commissioner applauded Uganda for the role it played in fighting against the Whites in South Africa.
Born Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela in Bizana, the Eastern Cape, she was a social worker by profession who later joined politics in the 1950s following her addition to the African National Congress
In 1992, Winnie separated with Nelson Mandela before divorcing in 1996.
