Anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela dies
![b8c06ef4-75301576_1522680612844](https://images.foxtv.com/static.ktvu.com/www.ktvu.com/content/uploads/2019/09/764/432/Winnie_Mandela_1522680612844_5253121_ver1.0_640_360.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 28: Winnie Madikizela Mandela (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's state broadcaster says Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, prominent anti-apartheid activist and the ex-wife of Nelson Mandela, has died. She was 81.
Madikizela-Mandela was married to Nelson Mandela from 1958 to 1996. Mandela was imprisoned throughout most of their marriage and Madikizela-Mandela's own activism against the apartheid regime led to her being imprisoned for months and years under house arrest.
Her political activism was marred by a kidnapping and assault conviction in 1991, for which she was fined. She faced these allegations again during the 1997 hearings before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a panel that investigated apartheid-era crimes.
As a parliamentarian after South Africa's first all-race elections, she was convicted of fraud. Still, she was widely venerated in South Africa for her role in fighting white minority rule.