Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who died in a Johannesburg hospital on Monday evening, was not a saint. For the benefit of those who are shocked by the outpouring of grief since news of her passing broke last week, Madikizela-Mandela was a human being like all of us. Her death came as a shock to many. She spent the Easter weekend in church and surrounded by family members. Last month she accompanied President Cyril Ramaphosa to a voter registration station at Orlando West High School in Soweto to confirm her credentials ahead of next year's general elections. Clearly she was still planning to be around for at least another year.
News of her death was met with mixed emotions this week. While millions grappled with the news and trying to understand and mourn her death, many others among us called her names, labelling her a liar and a murderer.While Madikizela-Mandela had flaws - like all of us - we should pause to remember that unlike many of us, this was a human being who devoted her entire life to the struggle for the liberation of her people. Her resolve to fight alongside the oppressed, disenfranchised and vulnerable in her community brought her suffering, persecution, imprisonment and banishment to Brandfort in the Free State for nine years.
Her refusal to be defined by anyone else is remarkable, given the forces arrayed against her. And given her gender. She did so while single-handedly raising her children while her then husband, Nelson Mandela, was serving a life sentence on Robben Island.Who did this woman think she was to stand up against men with grey shoes and big guns, and demand liberation? Who did she think she was - to all intents and purposes a single mother - to assert herself as a leader in the vacuum created by the ANC's banning and the exile that many of its members suffered? Where did she get her courage to face the regime and assert herself at a time when women were discouraged strenuously from doing so?
The Mother of the Nation is an interesting label. Mothers are seen as nurturing, kind and loving. Madikizela-Mandela displayed these characteristics, notably in her chosen profession as a social worker and in her tendency to be the first to arrive to comfort communities afflicted by violence or disaster.
She was also, contrary to the motherly stereotype, fierce, assertive and courageous.
The apartheid state did everything it could to break her. Solitary confinement, leaving her children alone in the house when it repeatedly arrested her. These experiences were inflicted with cold-hearted cruelty but failed to accomplish their purpose. They may have damaged her but they did not break her. They may have derailed her for a while, but she came back stronger.Resilience, which was Madikizela-Mandela's signature strength, is an underappreciated virtue. It has been defined as the ability to achieve successful outcomes in the face of challenging circumstances. Many of us - including those who have a strong sense of purpose and self - would have been discouraged by her experiences. But Madikizela-Mandela picked herself up, time and time again, and used her setbacks as springboards for growth.
Her fortitude brought solace and hope to many in one of South Africa's darkest periods, when activists were murdered by the state and when democracy seemed like an ever-receding dream. The fact that she descended into this darkness for a while will always be a blot on her name. But the fact that she regained her stride and her purpose is an example we would all do well to emulate. Madikizela-Mandela deserves more than our forgiveness of her missteps. She deserves our gratitude for being strong when we were weak, for showing us how to keep building in the face of setbacks and disasters, and for turning adversity into a force for change...