ANC could learn a lot from Mama Winnie, says Mabuza

Mabuza delivered the keynote address at the official memorial service for Madikizela-Mandela at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.

"She valued collective leadership. She stood for truth as it related to the betterment of the lives for which this mighty organisation was formed for. She is a part of leaders that frowned upon personality cults and the idolisation of individuals," Mabuza told mourners.

Thousands of South Africans attended the event to pay their respects to the woman affectionately known as ‘the mother of the nation’. 

Mabuza said Madikizela-Mandela continued to fight to better the lives of ordinary South Africans until her untimely passing. 

"At the wise old age of 80, she was still fighting for those whose voices had ceased with the passing of time. Away from the gaze of journalists, she was working quietly with her family in Bizana to raise funds to help the family of 5-year-old Lumka Mketwa, who fell in a pit latrine and lost her life."

He described Mam’ Winnie as the embodiment of the struggle against apartheid and a torch-bearer of liberation. 

Madikizela-Mandela will be buried on Saturday.