Winnie Madikizela-Mandela: A timeline

1936:      Madikizela-Mandela is born in Mbongweni, Transkei, in the Eastern Cape.

 

1953:      She moves to Johannesburg after being admitted at the Jan Hofmeyr School of Social Work.

 

1958:      Madikizela-Mandela marries Nelson Mandela in Bizana in the Eastern Cape.

 

1959:      She gives birth to her first child, Zenani.

 

1960:      Madikizela-Mandela gives birth to her second daughter, Zindziswa.

 

1962:      Madikizela-Mandela is banned by the apartheid government and her movements restricted to the magisterial district of Johannesburg. The order also stipulated that she is not permitted to be quoted in the media. This follows the arrest of her husband during the previous year.

 

1965:      A severe banning order is handed to Madikizela-Mandela, limiting her movements and barring her from moving anywhere other than her neighbourhood of Orlando West.

 

1969:      Madikizela-Mandela’s home is raided. She is arrested and kept in solitary confinement for 17 months. For the first 200 days she has no formal contact with any one, except for her interrogator Major Theunis Swanepoel, a notorious torturer.

 

1973:      Madikizela-Mandela is arrested again for meeting with another banned person, a photographer for Drum magazine, Peter Magubane. She is handed a 12-month sentence.

 

1977:    Known as the year of the Brandfort banishment, Madikizela-Mandela is sent to the small town, 400 kilometres away from Johannesburg, for eight years.

 

1986:    She returns to her home at 8115 Vilakazi Street, Orlando West, in Soweto. This was also the same year of the formation of the Mandela United Football Club (MUFC).

 

1990:    Madikizela-Mandela is present when Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison.

 

1992:    She becomes President of the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL).

 

1994:    She is appointed Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, but is dismissed the following year for allegations of financial mismanagement.

 

2016:    Madikizela-Mandela celebrates her 80th birthday at a gala at Cape Town’s Mount Nelson Hotel with family, friends and colleagues,
including President Cyril Ramaphosa.  

Additional information sourced from www.sahistory.org.za