Nelson Mandela's legacy wasn't a set of billion-dollar trust funds. Changing the world through his politics and his steadfast commitment to ending racial inequality in South Africa, and speaking out against injustices was more his bag than equity and interest rates. But he still left the equivalent of £2.5 million to his family after his death in December 2013. Interestingly, though, it's now emerged that ex-wife Winnie Mandela – who was present at his deathbed, his memorial and funeral and embraced his widow Graca Machel the former event – has been left with nothing.
Winnie was Nelson's second wife from 1958 until 1990 – the period during which he spent 27 years in prison and she was also held for various alleged offences. They split up a few months after he left jail, but she remained influential in his life. A powerful part in the ANC's struggle against apartheid, she was once nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize before a spectacular fall from grace. After apartheid was toppled, a Truth and Reconciliation Committee (basically a long inquiry into what happened during apartheid, so the truth could come out and people could forgive their oppressors) found Winnie encouraged violent solutions to apartheid as opposed to peaceful protest and negotiation, and was implicated in the death, rape and torture of civilians. Yeesh. Though Winnie visited Nelson every day while he was in hospital during his final weeks and was by his bedside when he died, it's thought she still wasn't fully back in his affections.
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Picture: Rex
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.