Talk:Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

"Convicted Fraudster"

I have removed the words "and convicted fraudster" from the first sentence because I believe it portrays a biased point of view. While it is a fact that she was convicted of fraud, calling her a 'fraudster' has a subjectively negative connotation. Furthermore, her fraud conviction is not one of the most notable things she is known for and therefore hardly justifies mention in the first sentence. I think the mention in the last sentence of the introduction (and of course in the more detailed biography) is sufficient. --Audentis (talk) 14:04, 10 November 2011 (UTC)

The description does not mention that she is a convicted kidnapper either. It would be more balanced if the description of her as an "activist and politician" was expanded to include "murderer, kidnapper and fraudster".Royalcourtier (talk) 03:53, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

Human Rights advocacy

More should be written about Winnie Mandela's legacy of Human Rights^® and Social Justice^® advocacy.

Specifically, it should cover her brave pioneering of the practice of "necklacing"; wrapping a gasoline-soaked rubber tire around the necks of her political opponents and setting it ablaze.

Regardless of the above comment, the article does contain plenty that casts Winnie Mandela in a negative light. There is however relatively little on her importance in the anti-apartheid movement, her role as a populist, her symbolic status (keeping the Mandela name visible while her husband was in prison), and her grass-roots popularity despite the controversies. This deserves more analysis in the article. Because she is both important and controversial, a neutral point of view is vital. Zaian 23:28, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

I don't feel their is enough coverage of the multiple charges of murder, kidnapping and torture made against Mandela and the subsequent 1997 trial. It was not only one murder/kidnapping. Please see this article which has it's own bibliography for a summary of this period - —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.72.201.155 (talk) 19:29, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Information Please

If Winnie was born in 1936 and met Nelson in 1957, how can she have been 22 when they met? The citations are all there, but either the BBC, the nndb, or The Guardian must be wrong here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.232.93.70 (talk) 11:32, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

More information on her relationship with Mandela is needed. When and how they met, when they were married, ect. - —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.72.142.250 (talk • contribs) 2 October 2005.

Also, there seems to be an error in the 8th paragraph, which states, "damaging revelations about the Seipei incident during the sittings of the national apple pie headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu." National apple pie? Which event or political party does this refer to? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 210.213.224.211 (talk • contribs) 18 November 2005.

The above comment seems bonafide. I am editing out the sentence. /¨Ezeu 01:58, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

The "things went horribly wrong" exchange between her and Tutu when she appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission should be mentioned. Zaian 23:28, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Stompie's Age

Wasn't Stompie 16 years old, not 14? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.42.190.101 (talk) 13:53, 19 January 2007 (UTC).

Mandela: The Authorised Biography

I am trying to expand this article, mainly focusing on the differences between this book and other accounts (books and otherwise) of South Africa throughout this period. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated on the talk page.BillMasen 13:25, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

The book can be cited in further reading section.--Biografer (talk) 01:37, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

How wealthy was she?

I thought that she lived in a government-owned housing project. That ain't wealthy. (I live in the USA which "houses the poor" in government-owned housing projects).HeyYallYo 19:48, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Did she own land? Did she own gold mines? What were her assets? I do not nelieve that she had a "wealthy background" of any sort. HeyYallYo 12:04, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

The inner circles of the ANC are fraught with corruption: or at least as "corruption" is intepreted in refined democracies. Meaning, if it were possible to know what and how much her sources of income are, more criminal charges would likely be raised against her. From the local TV news she appears to live a middle-class life. The question "Did she own gold mines?" is rather stupid - a South African gold mine is a massive industrial operation run by a publically listed company; during apartheid years ownership of mining equities by non-whites was difficult or impossible. However today she may have small equity stakes in a number of enterprises, as do I. It wouldn't be generally available information. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Paulsheer (talk • contribs) 12:42, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

"former" politician no more

Just to let you know this page is outdated if it claims Ms. Mandela is a "former" politician. When talking about the recent ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) election, the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7156246.stm) claims that, "The ex-wife of former President Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, emerged top in the NEC vote in the northern town of Polokwane, endorsed by 2,845 of the 3,605 delegates. She has not been active in the ANC since 2003, when she was convicted of fraud." Time to update, registered users. Thank you. 124.86.70.119 (talk) 22:16, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Stompie!

Where's the mention of her accused involvement with the brutal murder of 14-year old Stompie Moeketsi? Big news that helped sully her career, yes? Then include it... ---32.144.204.190 (talk) 19:15, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

It was here but it appears to have been whitewashed?!74.74.144.252 (talk) 11:13, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

It is here? Wizzy…☎ 13:36, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Opposite Point of View Needed

Consideration should be given to presenting information from Mrs. Mandela's point of view. I find it extremely curious that while her husband, Nelson Mandela, was in prison, she kept him in the spotlight of media attention. Yet, soon after he was released, she was conveniently cast aside.

During the years leading up to Mandela's release, Winnie became more and more brutal in her treatment of blacks with whom she disagreed with politically. Mandela rebuked her while he was in jail - criticism which she ignored. Her entourage of thugs (the "soccer club") brutally tortured and killed people. Indeed it could be said that whatever credibility she had previously given the anti-apartheid movement when she was young, had been destroyed by the negative political antics and violent rhetoric of her later years. It is no surprise that Nelson Mandela chose to distance himself from her. The women had become an [REMOVED].

John Paul Parks (talk) 06:35, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

Comments comparing black activists (whatever one thinks about them) to animals is always suspect of racism. I don’t think it is wise to do it.

Ceplm (talk) 10:01, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

400 days in solitary confinement

An article on Front Row, UK BBC Radio 4, Saturday 23.01.10 just pointed out that the fact she spent 400 days in solitary confinement isn't even mentioned on the wikipedia page :) Might wanna look into that... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.44.206.103 (talk) 19:51, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

Julius Malema

Her connection to Julius Malema is worth mentioning. --196.2.126.175 (talk) 08:47, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Bias in this and many articles against winnie, the mother of the nation Mandela'

Compared to the white supremacist murderous government that murdered hundreds of thousands in cold blood, deprived the blacks of Africa of liberty, freedom and identity, Winnie is an angel. She kept the flame of freedom alive. She cannot be sullied by the term 'convicted fraudster' and murderer, she lived and was raised amongst white murderous thugs, wearing uniforms and pinstripe suits, killing and torturing millions on daily basis. Compare her with Botha, Ian Smith, De Clerke and others, she is the most innocent of all. His speeches were not controversial, the biased ears of white supremacists were and still are biased. She kept the flame alive, for the so called hero, Nelson Mandela, whose rule has not done anything to change the fabric of life of the black Africans. Soweto and the townships are still the same. So what if a passionate, young woman fulfilled some bodily desires, in secret, while she kept risking life and limb for her husband. She was more loyal to her husband than anyone else could be, even more than himself. Ask all those other woman and men politicians, in washington and London, the John Majors, Kennedys, Schwartzneggers and Edwina Currys of this world, what is it to be living in poverty and oppression, treated less than an animal, beaten, humiliated and murdered with impunity. Once again, such opinions are 'white washing' the life of a great spirit, a great flame for freedom. If mandela were a man, of what the world says he is, he should have stood with his wife, winnie, through thick and thin, as she did, through thick and thin, kept his name alive. Only she did it.

If she'd organised death squads to round up and kill pro-apartheid whites I could respect her, if not condone her; but she seems to have spent most of her energy torturing and killing black people as part of a power struggle. That's what history will remember her for. 87.115.187.63 (talk) 12:05, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Despite this being an old comment, I do agree with some of the OP's sentiments regarding the bias in this article - having gone through it myself. I have just removed a silly tag left by someone when the source stated quite clearly that she was tortured, put in house arrest etc., by the apartheid government. This is just one of many problems that runs the gamut where certain people think that they can use this article to advance their propaganda. Under the heading "Transition to democracy", someone spent half of that section repeating her separation from Mandela and the corruption charges repeated countless times throughout this article rather than discuss what that heading is about. This article is nothing more than a character assassination. I am surprised how experienced editors have allowed this to pass through net. In my opinion, this article should be re-written or reduced to a stub in order to meet Wiki's neutrality policy. I'm tagging this article for lack of neutrality. Senegambianamestudy (talk) 01:43, 13 March 2018 (UTC)

I have edited the article, especially the lede to reduce the repetitive anti-Winnie rhetoric, and I am removing the NPOV tag. There may certainly be some redeeming details that can be added about her, and feel free to do so, but the fact that reputable sources have been uniformly ambivalent about her makes me think that your conditions for the removal of the tag will not be met anytime soon. Park3r (talk) 11:35, 3 April 2018 (UTC)

I personally don't think that Wikipedia is a place to discuss racial tensions @Senegambianamestudy:, but I do appreciate your help in cleaning the thing up a bit.--Biografer (talk) 01:50, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Do you actually know how many people the "murderous white government killed? Around 21,000, not HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.151.87.115 (talk) 14:23, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

@Biografer, do enlighten me by showing me which part of my comment discussed racial tension or said anything about race? You were the one who brought up race following my initial comment. I took issue with certain people using this article as a propaganda piece and noted it here having gone through the article myself. If you have something to add in order to improve the article I suggest you do so rather than bringing irrelevant and silly stuff. We all know race is a major part of South Africa's history. However, this is Wikipedia and we have policies in place that we must all abide by. Wiki articles will not be hijacked for propaganda/ silly agendas. Senegambianamestudy (talk) 11:51, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

My bad. I was referring to an anonym comment. :) Nobody is hijacking anything.

Responding to another anonym comment: "Do you actually know how many people the "murderous white government killed?" - None. Rwanda genocide was committed by Africans so did many other atrocities such as the rule of Charles Taylor of Liberia that murdered your hundred of thousands.--Biografer (talk) 14:49, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

Wikipedia Primary School announcement

Hi everybody. On behalf of the teams behind the Wikipedia Primary School research project, I would like to announce that this article has been selected to be reviewed by an external expert. We'd like to ask the English Wikipedia community to join our efforts and improve the article before December 31, 2014 (any timezone); a revision will be then sent to the designated expert for review in early 2015. Any notes and remarks written by the external expert will be made available on this page under a CC-BY-SA license as soon as possible, so that editors can decide if and how to use them. Thanks a lot for your support! --Elitre (WPS) (talk) 16:13, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

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Death

So poorly written but I'll try improving it FYI bookgirl (talk) 18:15, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

2010 interview with Nadira Naipaul

Is there any evidence to back up Mandela's claim that the 2010 interview with Nadira Naipaul was "a fabrication", or is this just another case of the dismissal of inconvenient facts as "fake news"? JezGrove (talk) 23:11, 2 April 2018 (UTC) @JezGrove: Well, if you are trying to prove the opposite of sources then according to your opinion Wikipedia is fake news.--Biografer (talk) 01:37, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

The point is that the sources contradict each other. Naipaul asserts she interviewed Mandela, and that she said the things quoted in her report. Mandela claims the interview was a "fabrication". They can't both be right, and since Naipaul's published account of their meeting is very detailed I was wondering whether Mandela had offered any evidence or details in support of her own version of events. JezGrove (talk) 23:20, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

While this discussion should focus on the article, rather the subject, it has to be noted that she had a history of giving interviews, and later repudiating them. The TRC report discusses an interview about the murder of Abu Asvat with a Sunday paper a couple of days after his murder, that she then denied giving at the TRC. The TRC report [1] states that there was a pattern of such denials, and the TRC didn't seem to take her denial seriously (page 572, section 69). If a reliable secondary source covered this point, it could be incorporated into the article. Park3r (talk) 11:44, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

Never First Lady?

Winnie and Nelson Mandela separated in 1992, before Nelson Mandela became President. Their daughter Zindzi accompanied Nelson at his inauguration in 1994. Winnie never acted as First Lady, even though their divorce was only finalized in 1996. Zaian (talk) 14:30, 3 April 2018 (UTC)

JLo-Watson, can you explain why you think this should be added back? They were estranged during Nelson Mandela's presidency so she never acted in the role of First Lady. Zaian (talk) 07:02, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Reliable Source stating that she was never First Lady: https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/winniemandela-sas-mother-of-the-nation-who-was-never-first-lady-14242652. Quote from Winnie herself, in an interview in 1994 (after Nelson became president): "I am not fighting to be the country’s first lady. In fact, I am not the sort of person to carry beautiful flowers and be an ornament to everyone." Zaian (talk) 12:26, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Infobox should be of Convicted criminal rather than (or in conjunction with) that of politician

For people who are convicted criminals, there should be a Convicted criminal with the arrest photo, rather than that of the political infobox. What are peoples thoughts. Perhaps we could include both as some other ex-politicians have 132.234.228.144 (talk) 06:36, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

Lead Section and Overall Clarity

Hello! I am a college student who is working to evaluate articles in Wikipedia. Upon reviewing the article and the guidance Wikipedia puts out for evaluating articles, I am recommending that the lead section be revised for this article. Although it provides a lot of comprehensive information, it does not accurately reflect and summarize all of the contents of the article. According to Wikipedia the lead section should provide a brief description of the various sections of the article and not provide information that is not present elsewhere in the article. Madikizela-Mandela's article goes against both of these things and does not provide an overview of her both negative and positive contributions. Additionally, details regarding both her personal life and criminal proceedings are discussed in the lead section that aren't mentioned later in the article (her own children and the murder of Stompie Seipi). I just think she is a really prominent female political and social leader, and her lead should concisely reflect what is described later in the article and would benefit from being revised for clarity. Sek124 (talk) 20:18, 29 September 2023 (UTC)

I think the lead covers the important events/accomplishments relevant to Madikizela-Mandela's notability, but it could be more concise and certain details can be moved to later parts of the article. I agree that some info regarding her personal life and criminal proceedings is not discussed later, although Wiki doesn't require all facts in the lead to be repeated later (MOS:LEADREL). 23impartial (talk) 03:08, 31 October 2023 (UTC)