Winnie Madikizela-Mandela dies aged 81

South African anti-apartheid campaigner and former first lady Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died aged 81. She died at a hospital in Johannesburg after a long illness, her personal assistant, Zodwa Zwane, said. The ex-wife of the Former South African President Nelson Mandela, had been treated for diabetes and underwent major surgeries as her health began failing over the last several years, The New York Times reports. Crowds of mourners and political figures flocked to her home in Soweto, in Johannesburg, after news of her death broke. Madikizela-Mandela was born in 1936 in Eastern Cape. She was a trained social worker when she met her future husband in the 1950s. To her supporters, she became known affectionately as "Mother of the Nation".