African first ladies who were neck-deep in their husband’s affairs and got into trouble

Winnie Mandela

The ex-wife of South Africa’s first black President, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was a force to be reckoned with.

Winnie died on April 2, at the age of 81.

She was known for her no-holds-barred approach to apartheid. She fought tirelessly with her then husband, Nelson Mandela; even enduring imprisonment during her first pregnancy and being exiled to a small town in the rural Free State province.

Her passion did not exhibit itself without a cause. In 1985, Winnie aligned herself with the bodyguards of the Mandela United Football Club (MUFC). The MUFC was implicated in the kidnapping, torture and murder of South African citizens.

In 1986, Winnie was widely criticized for endorsing “necklacing,” the act of burning people alive by putting petrol in a tire and placing the tire around the neck.

Finally, in 1998, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) found “Ms Winnie Madikizela Mandela politically and morally accountable for the gross violations of human rights committed by the Mandela United Football Club” and that she “was responsible, by omission, for the commission of gross violations of human rights.”

In 1991, Winnie was acquitted for playing an instrumental role in the torture and murder of 14-year-old James Seipei and three other adolescents.

She wasn’t imprisoned for the 1998 case and the 2003 case in which she was charged with 43 counts of fraud despite being sentenced to five years in prison.