In
Soweto (
South
Western
Township, outside
Johannesburg,
South Africa) during the 1940s and 1950s, there was a burgeoning
swing/
jazz movement, characterised by smoky
shebeens (illegal drinking houses), passionate
dancing and singing and a mixture of snappy dressers and
hardcore drinkers. This was a bit of
glamour in the
horrid surroundings of the township. The Jazz scene was the cultural
pulse of the era for many people living there.
I read an account by one of the locals at a popular shebeen about the night Winnie Mandela came to party. I never realised it, but Winnie Mandela was (is?) extraordinarily beautiful. Back then she was one of the social elite in Soweto, a well to do socialite and enourmously attractive. The account centers on how Winnie Mandela was instantly the center of attention in the shebeen and how she effortlessly exuded class, refinement and spirit. The impression everyone got was that she was one special lady, destined for greatness.
True to form, she met and married one of the most influential young lawyers and political activists in Johannesburg, an ex-boxer from a royal Transkei family by the name of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. The couple were politically charged, young and both leaders in the community. They were powerful and the future hope of the struggle against apartheid.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Along came the Rivonia Trials and Nelson Mandela was thrown in prison for a very long time. Winnie remained a bastion of hope and a symbol of the power of the struggle. She was in and out of jail, always in the headlines and a leader of the youth movement.
It seems that either cynicism, corruption or the complacency of power got to Winnie and she began to become paranoid. She surrounded herself with bodyguards and was always followed by an entourage. She began to wear big hats, always a worrying sign.
When she accompanied Nelson Mandela on his Long Walk to Freedom from Victor Verster Prison, Winnie was, no doubt, already aware that her public image and criminal escapades while Nelson was locked up were highly incongruous to his new mission of moving South Africa into democracy, in one form or another. She basically got the boot.
And then she just went off the rails totally. See agazade's wu above...