UN chief lauds Winnie Mandela as towering figure against apartheid

          Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-14 05:16:30|Editor: yan
          Video PlayerClose

          UNITED NATIONS, April 13 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday lauded Winnie Madikizela-Mandela as a towering figure in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

          "'Mama Winnie,' as she was affectionately known, was a towering figure in the struggle against apartheid. She was an international symbol of resistance who left an indelible mark on the history of the 20th century," Guterres told a memorial service for Madikizela-Mandela at UN Headquarters in New York.

          Winnie, a former wife of late Nelson Mandela, died on April 2 in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the age of 81. She was known as Winnie Mandela in apartheid years and modified her name after a divorce from Nelson Mandela in 1996. Nelson Mandela died in 2013.

          "Faced with the most heinous of racist and discriminatory regimes, she helped lead the way in showing what it takes to overcome such tyranny: strength, defiance and courage," he said.

          "She endured surveillance, harassment, torture and imprisonment, including in solitary confinement, making huge personal sacrifices," Guterres said, in reference to her 17 months in prison, 13 of them in solitary confinement. "Yet, through her resistance, she inspired countless others and helped keep hope alive through the darkest periods of the struggle."

          In her later years Madikizela-Mandela encountered accusations of corruption, extreme physical brutality, kidnapping, even murder.

          "None of us would condone all actions across a complex and complicated life, but Winnie Mandela's dedication was evident in her early activism and her work researching infant mortality in the Alexandra Township," the UN chief said.

          "As a strong and fearless woman, she had to fight patriarchy's definitions of womanhood," he said. "In apartheid South Africa, the combination of patriarchy and racism together meant that black women confronted enormous obstacles from the cradle to the grave -- making her own achievements all the more exceptional."

          In the decades-long fight against apartheid, the United Nations stood with Madikizela-Mandela and all those in South Africa, who faced unrelenting racism and discrimination, he said.

          TOP STORIES
          EDITOR’S CHOICE
          MOST VIEWED
          EXPLORE XINHUANET
          010020070750000000000000011105521371096371
          无码人妻一区二区三区四区av_亚洲精品911在线永久观看_精品一区二区国产在线观看_日韩不卡一区二区视频在线

                  中出国产乱子伦中文字幕在线 | 色婷婷综合久久久久中文一区二区 | 日本中文字幕有码在线视频三级 | 亚洲第一在线视频中文 | 亚洲欧美在线观看免费 | 在线观看精品综合一区 |