Thousands attend Winnie Mandela’s memorial service

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - APRIL 11: Thousands of South Africans have gathered at a stadium in Johannesburg to pay tribute to former anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela who died at the age of 81 earlier this month. “The mother of the nation is gone. You are an embodiment of our struggle,” Deputy President David Mabuza said Wednesday at the official memorial service.Mourners at the Orlando stadium in Soweto near Johannesburg sang and danced to celebrate the life of their heroine. Mabuza said Winnie Mandela was a special person who loved her country to the extent of sacrificing her own life for the struggle of its freedom. He praised the icon for teaching young women in the country that they are just as capable as men or even more able. Winnie Mandela died on April 2 after a long illness‚ which had brought her in and out of hospital since the start of the year. She was the ex-wife of the late Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president. She was one of the country’s greatest icons in the struggle against apartheid. (Footage by Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)