Nelson Mandela's Lifelong Bond With Winnie

Right to the end, Winnie and Nelson Mandela remained close.

She was one of the few allowed to see him in hospital in the days before he died, and was a regular at his bedside alongside his third wife Graca Machel.

When they met at a bus stop in 1958 Nelson described it as love at first sight. Within a year they were married and she became his second wife.

Political activism kept the couple apart for much of their early years together and when Mr Mandela was jailed for life in 1964 she was left to bring up two young daughters.

In his book Long Walk To Freedom, he wrote: "My dearest Winnie, your beautiful photo still stands about two feet above my left shoulder as I write this note. I dust it carefully every morning, for to do so gives me the pleasant feeling that I'm caressing you as in the old days.

"I even touch your nose with mine to recapture the electric current that used to flush through my blood whenever I did so. Nolitha stands on the table directly opposite me. How can my spirits ever be down when I enjoy the fond attentions of such wonderful ladies?"

She also assumed the mantle of Mr Mandela's political heir. While he was in jail Winnie was placed under constant observation by the security services.

She was detained on several occasions and held in solitary confinement for 17 months.

By the mid-1980s Winnie was at the heart of the struggle.

Although her opposition to white rule earned her the title 'Mother of the Nation', her conduct was not irreproachable.

She spoke publicly about achieving liberation from apartheid by using necklaces - a reference to the brutal murder of suspected collaborators by putting tyres round their necks and setting them alight.

But the most serious allegations stemmed from the activities of her personal bodyguards - the so-called 'Mandela United Football Club'.

A 14-year-old old activist called Stompie Moeketsi was kidnapped by her guards and later found murdered.

Convicted over the kidnap of the boy, Winnie's life was steeped in both achievement and controversy. She was virtually disowned by the ANC.

The ANC leadership declared Winnie out of control. But Mr Mandela - in jail and in ill health - refused to repudiate her.

A woman whose image helped light his mind during the years of incarceration - yet a woman he had scarcely seen in almost three long decades.

When finally Mr Mandela's days of darkness came to an end and he was freed from jail it was Winnie by his side as he walked into the sunshine.

But the marriage wasn't to last. Mr Mandela would later say at his daughter Zindzi's wedding: "It seems to be the destiny of freedom fighters to have unstable personal lives.

"When your life is the struggle - as was mine - there's little room left for family."

By the time Mr Mandela was released Winne was in the midst of an affair.

Mr Mandela separated from her in 1992 and they divorced four years later.

He told the court that he had been "the loneliest man" after his release from prison and that months went by when they barely spoke.

She was hardly ever affectionate in public. He said he was embarrassed to be married only in name. Mr Mandela's first wife, Evelyn, accused Winnie of only wanting to be the first black South African First Lady.

But forever loyal as they separated, Mr Mandela spoke of what she had endured during his time at Robben Island.

He said: "My love for her remains undiminished. I part from her with no recrimination. I embrace her with all the love and affection I have nursed for her inside and out of prison."

Two years later on his 80th birthday Mr Mandela married for a third time.

He had met Graca Machel, the widow of the Mozambican President Samora Machel, in 1990, when she was still in mourning.

Their friendship developed over time, and although she turned down his first marriage proposal, they finally tied the knot in 1998.

Graca, who is 27 years his junior, had been keeping vigil at Mr Mandela's bedside since he was admitted to hospital on June 8.

She is one of the few members of Mr Mandela's family to have maintained a dignified silence over the family spats which have dogged the Mandela clan.

It is reported Winnie branded Graca "that concubine". But as the end drew close for Mr Mandela, Winnie described Graca as like a sister.

There was always a place for Winnie alongside Mr Mandela in the later years of his life.

He was flanked by both women during the celebrations for his 94th birthday in July 2012.

The woman who brought him happiness in his final years and the woman he had sacrificed for the struggle was the most painful aspect, he said, of the choice he made.

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