EFF statement on the passing of mama Winnie Mandela

The EFF sends its revolutionary condolences on the passing of Mama Winnie Mandela. We send our heartfelt condolences to the family, the ANC, South Africans and all peoples of the world. Mama Winnie Mandela is the stone that the builders rejected.

She is the first black female president South Africa was deprived of. Her irreplaceable contribution to the liberation of our people was a subject of both Patriarchal and white minority suppression; her well deserved, tried and tested, rise into the highest seat in the country was only suppressed by the patriarchally dominated liberation movement and its complicity with white minority establishment.

They hated her because she was a black woman with her own mind and who enjoyed the collective popular confidence of masses of our people. They hated her because she never compromised her message of radical black emancipation. 

For denying us Winnie Mandela as the president of the Republic South Africa,  the liberation movement must bury its head in shame in this painful hour of loss. 

There is no doubt that in the last two decades of the liberation struggle Winnie Mandela carried the revolutionary aspirations of black communities on her shoulders.

When silence, despondency, fear and political apathy triumphed over the collective spirit of emancipation following the exile of the liberation movement and the imprisonment of its leadership.

It is Winnie Mandela who exhumed this collective spirit, inspiring every street, every township, every village, every town, every City and every country in the world to brave the murderous apartheid regime and once more demand the unconditional freedom of a black child. 

From Soweto to Selma, London to Sidney, scores of students, youth, workers and all peoples of the world joined the international anti-apartheid movement inspired by her tenacity, perseverance, bravery, daring and infectious love.

From Morogoro to Lusaka many young men and women signed up in the ranks of Mkhonto WeSizwe inspired by her fighting spirit. She affirmed both the love and anger of black people; always committed to their right to defend their lives even in arms in the face of a deadly apartheid evil. 

We bit her farewell as the stone that the builders rejected. Her memory will live long and one day a better society, free from the patriarchal hatred that suppressed her rise to be a president, will embrace a talent black woman to lead our nation.

In her name we vow to accelerate and deepens the fight against patriarchy, within our own ranks and in society in general. 

In her name we vow to bestow upon this land an era of economic freedom in our lifetime. One that she believed in, encouraged and commended the EFF for declaring and pursuing it.

In our eyes, she is the perfect image of the Devine: she taught us to love ourselves, our country and continue the struggle for the total emancipation of our people and continent. Hamba Kahle MaNgutyana! Hamba Kahle Mkhonto We Sizwe!

South Africa has lost a mother, a leader and an icon, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the nation during his official announcement of the death of struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela on Monday night.

“She was a voice for the voiceless,” said Ramaphosa.

The announcement followed an earlier confirmation of her death by the Mandela family.

The family confirmed that the 81-year-old had died peacefully at the Netcare Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg.

IN PICS: A defiant Madikizela-Mandela over the years

“It is with a profound sense of loss and deep sadness that we have learnt of the passing away of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela,” said Ramaphosa.

“Even at the darkest moments of our struggle for liberation, Mam’ Winnie was an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free. In the midst of repression, she was a voice of defiance and resistance.”

Ramaphosa said it was through her marriage to former president Nelson Mandela that Madikizela-Mandela rose to prominence.

“But it was through her own contribution, her sacrifice and her unyielding determination that she gained the love and the respect of the nation.”

Ramaphosa said, in the face of exploitation, the late struggle icon had been a champion of justice and equality.

“For many years, she bore the brunt of the senseless brutality of the apartheid state with stoicism and fortitude. Despite the hardships she faced, she never doubted that the struggle for freedom and democracy would succeed.”

He said Madikizela-Mandela remained, throughout her life, a tireless advocate for the dispossessed and the marginalised.

As the country continued to mourn Madikizela-Mandela, Ramaphosa said the country must reflect on her rich, remarkable and meaningful life.

“Let us draw inspiration from the struggles that she fought and the dream of a better society to which she dedicated her life,” he said.