Winnie (2017)

Directed by: Pascale Lamche | 84 minutes | documentary

While Nelson Mandela is universally seen as a hero and reconciler, the reputation of his ex-wife Winnie Madikizela is significantly less positive. And that while, in the twenty-seven years that her husband was imprisoned, she continued his struggle. She passionately campaigned for an end to Apartheid in South Africa, in order to get her husband’s message across and strengthen his leadership within the ANC. If the situation called for it, she did not shy away from using violence to reinforce that message. Internal security services kept her under constant surveillance, regularly leading to arrests, isolation and even exile, but Winnie always remained combative and braved the bloody civil war to complete her mission of overthrowing the Apartheid regime. When Nelson Mandela was released in 1990 and elected president four years later and apartheid came to an end, Winnie’s role became less urgent. She came under fire for various scandals and where Nelson chose the path of reconciliation, Winnie stuck to her radical ideas. A divorce was inevitable.

In the documentary ‘Winnie’ (2017), French filmmaker Pascale Lamche shows Winnie’s side of the story. In about an hour and a half she takes her viewers into the complex life of the now eighty-year-old former ‘First Lady’ of South Africa, who herself also speaks about her role in the turbulent history of her country. The film adheres to chronology, but disproportionately focuses on the period from 1990 to the present. Lamche seems to have the aim of polishing Winnie Mandela’s blazon a lot; her abuses are written under the heading ‘a cornered cat makes strange jumps’. Winnie was of course also hunted game, that becomes clear thanks to the revelations of Niël Barnard, former head of the internal security service of South Africa. Vic McPherson, a former executive at STRATCOM, a propaganda agency of the Apartheid regime, openly admits that false information about Winnie Mandela – including about her infidelity and drug use – was released to disperse her and Nelson, as they shared a much were too strong a couple.

If you look at it that way, Winnie Mandela is a victim. But there are also things that Lamche downplays, while she really can’t ignore them. Winnie’s damaged reputation is largely due to her role in the 1989 murder of fourteen-year-old James ‘Stompie’ Seipei. Stompie was active at a young age for the United Democratic Front (UDF), a movement that pursued the same goals as Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC). However, Winnie Mandela’s camp was rumored to be a police informant, so Winnie ordered her bodyguard Jerry Richardson to kidnap and kill Stompie. Richardson testified against his former employer, but Winnie was ultimately only found guilty of the kidnapping (ordering). The documentary paints a remarkably one-sided picture of the case, labeling Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who pleads with Winnie on behalf of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1997 to admit she made mistakes, as a hypocrite. Other bad things are completely omitted: her resignation as Deputy Minister because of (accusations of) corruption in 1994 and her conviction for fraud in 2003. Also about her positive statements about the horrific method of ‘necklacing’ (the burning of ‘traitors’ alive by them a burning car tire to hang) is not a word. Such a smeared blazon is of course also difficult to polish…

Winnie Mandela is a fascinating woman, with a life story that just begs to be documented. The admiration that filmmaker Pascale Lamche – who was awarded the directorship prize for this film at the Sundance Film Festival – has for this ‘Mother of the Nation of South Africa’ can be explained logically. Winnie’s free-spirited passion, combativeness and resilience are commendable and her life reads like a girl’s book. Lamche also gives the floor to interesting eyewitnesses from the various parties, to give her portrait depth – including the lead actress herself. She has decided to cover the less beautiful chapters in the life of Winnie Mandela with the mantle of love. The only criticism comes from former representatives of the Apartheid regime, who dismisses them as the ‘bad guys’. ‘Winnie’ looks pleasantly away, but unfortunately gives a distorted picture of reality, which is as complex as Winnie Mandela himself.