The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has described the death of anti-Apartheid crusader, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, as a twilight in the annals of South African history.
Aregbesola, in a statement by his Media Adviser, Mr. Sola Fasure, said Winnie represented the last bastion of those who freed South Africa from the shackles of white obnoxious rule, which ended in the early nineties.
The Governor noted that Winnie, former wife of the late President Nelson Mandela, exhibited uncommon leadership and strength of character by providing leadership for a people under economic and politics bondage to the land of freedom.
He said that her husband’s incarceration for 27 years did not deter her, but rather she picked up the gauntlet and continued the struggle where his husband and other apartheid fighters left it until Mandela was freed and South Africa became a free and democratic country.
The statement said in part: “Winnie, the South African anti-apartheid campaigner, was undoubtedly one of the strongest human in world history. Her death signifies the gradual passing away of the last freedom fighters of the apartheid era. She was the last of the Titans.
“She undoubtedly led a life of service to humanity, fought with her husband, and later in his absence, continued the fight for the liberation of Blacks in the apartheid enclave.
“Few women the world over could boast of passing through life’s vicissitudes as Winnie did, yet she remained undaunted to the course of humanity till the end. And South Africa came out the best for it.
“The democracy the country is enjoying today; the black majority rule and the shift of democratic power to the indigenous South Africans did not come on a platter but with the sweat and blood of few brave men and women, which roll call will always place Winnie in the first list.
“Popularly known as the “Mother of the Nation” because of her struggle against white-minority rule in South Africa, Winnie cut not only a world prominent figure but also attracted cult heroes and heroines across the globe as a sterling woman of steel, who was denied access to her husband and on a larger scale who also carried the burden of her people in bondage.
“These challenges she stood up to like the rock of Gibraltar and battled to the end. Her death is the end of an era. Winnie is definitely irreplaceable.
“On behalf of the government and the good people of Osun, I send our heartfelt condolences to Africa National Congress (ANC), the government and entire people of South Africa on the exit of this irrepressible and indefatigable freedom fighter.”
