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Zuma pays tribute to Winnie Mandela

South Africa

South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma paid tribute to the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at her Soweto home on Wednesday during which he described her as a mother, leader and special type.

Zuma is the latest in a string of high profile leaders to visit the home of the late anti-apartheid campaigner who was critical of Zuma’s rule when he was in office.

“To us there is a pain of losing a mother, of losing a comrade, of losing a leader. A leader who has seen it all. She has been detained, tortured, exiled within the country,” Zuma said.

She was jailed several times for her part in the fight against white-minority rule and she campaigned for the release of her husband at home and abroad.

Winnie Mandela joined her ancestors Mandela died on Monday due to an illness that kept her in and out of hospital since the beginning of the year.