In a somewhat surprising development Canada has refused to permit Winnie Mandela a visa. She was due to give a keynote address in Toronto at a fund raising event that also featured an opera based on her life.
While Winnie Mandela is certainly no stranger to controversy, particularly after being convicted of the murder of a 14 year old activist back in 1991, it is still somewhat odd that Canada would take this hard stance.
The US had no problems with admitting her into the country last month for an Aids related event. Apparently Winnie Mandela was literally leaving her home to drive to the airport when Canadian officials informed her of their decision.
Winnie Mandela who is now in her 70’s was a strong opponent of the apartheid regimes in South Africa, both her and her husband Nelson became public critics of the gross inequalities suffered by the native people.
So far the Canadian government has not commented on this latest development, and it will be interesting to see what sort of backlash this decision causes. For further reading check out this article.
Simon Barrett
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3 users commented in " Canada Says No To Winnie Mandela "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackbackcanada is just mad because they dont have any national figure who can compared to Winnie. america has a martin luther king south africa has mandela nothing is really known about canada, they have just proven themselves to be a very socially backwards country before it was suspected now its knows .
As a Canadian, I don’t see anything suprising about refusing her entry to Canada. We have a law against admitting convicted criminals into Canada, no matter who they are or were married to. I could show you a thousand criminals who have repented and done good deeds like Winnie. Why should we use her a role model? The USA has a similar law, so who put the pressure on the US Immigration Dept to ignore her criminality?
If you are looking for a reaction to the banning, you can start with the family of Stompie Moeketsi, a 14 year old who had his throat slit on Winnies order. There were another 11 attempted or actual murders involving Winnie and her bodyguards - Mandela United- You could also ask the youth who was whipped by Winnie herself or the 2 guys that had slogans carved on their chests and battery acid poured into the wounds.Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Truth and Justice Commission found that Winnie took part in the savage beatings of others. Winnie was found guilty and sentenced to 6 years in jail, reduced to a fine on appeal in 1997.
She was an embarresment to Nelson, the ANC and to the cause of black Africans. Nelson did the right thing in divorcing Winnie. The ANC was shocked at the brutality of Winnie and her entourage and forced her to resign as President of the ANC Womens League. In 2003 she was convicted of 68 counts of fraud and theft. This related to succesful bogus applications to get money to pay for non-existant funerals for poor township people. What a gal!!!!
It is about time for Winnie to stop using her ex-husbands name like other divorcee’s do. She is not the sort of person that Canadians want to use as a heroine or role model due to her brutality and criminality. I do note that her criminal record is ignored when she visits the USA and she is welcomed with open arms! She is the perfect role model for Americans!
I was the man that accused Winnie Mandela of kill people in Soweto. I was kidnapped in South Africa by ANC and put in prison in Zambia on Mandela is order.
In 1997I went to South Africa to gave evidence against her but nothing happed to her.
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