Mother of Nation to auction off her belongings to pay debts

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Ex-wife of Nobel Prize winner Nelson Mandela will soon auction off her belongings to pay the debts of an upmarket Johannesburg private school. Ms Winnie Madikizela-Mandela will be selling off 50 paintings, sculptures, room with books and a silver tea set. A law firm says the auction will be held next Tuesday at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s home in the Soweto township.

According to a media report, Winnie owes the school around 40,000 rand (Sh361,000) in accommodation fees for a family member while her annual income as a member of Parliament is around 900,000 rand (Sh8,100,000).

Winnie and Mandela remained married for a brief period before Mandela became the country’s first black president in 1994. Four years later, Mandela married the widow of Mozambican president Samora Machel, Graca Machel.

Winnie made undying attempts to obtain a settlement of £3million which was dismissed since she failed to appear in court for a financial settlement hearing. The matter was solved out of the court while the public was deliberately kept unaware about the details.

During the years, Winnie has developed a fan following of her own. Her supporters refer to her as the Mother of the Nation. On the contrary, those who do not like Winnie accuse her of alleged involvement in several human rights abuses, including the 1988 kidnapping and murder of 14-year old ANC activist Stompie Moeketsi.