And in South Africa, tens of thousands of people gathered in Soweto township on Saturday for the funeral for anti-apartheid hero Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Winnie Mandela was known widely by South Africans as the “mother of the nation.” Under apartheid, Winnie Mandela was jailed repeatedly by the white minority-led government and survived torture and nearly 500 days in solitary confinement. In 1958, she wedded Nelson Mandela, and the pair remained married for 38 years—even as it appeared Nelson Mandela would never be released from prison following his arrest in 1963. This is one of the mourners, Puleng Makhanya, speaking at the funeral.
Puleng Makhanya: “We are gathered here in unity as South Africans to pay our last respects to our mother. We owe her so much, because she fought for us as black people in South Africa. Today we are thankful that all political parties have gathered here to bid her farewell.”
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