THE RESURRECTION OF WINNIE MANDELA, a biography of survival

173pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2018

Writer and public commentator Sisonke Msimang's examination of the controversial life and career of Winnie Mandela, who died in April 2018.

"I will not pretend otherwise. I am interested in redeeming Ma Winnie. Like academic Shireen Hassim, who has done seminal work, I am intrigued by 'how Winnie Madikizela-Mandela accounted for her actions in her own words and on her own terms'...I am also interested in redeeming Ma Winnie because she appeared to feel no remorse, even as others were profoundly disappointed in her conduct...Still, from an ethical perspective, it is difficult to redeem Winnie Mandela without without falling into the trap of erasing the pain of those who fell foul of her. It is even harder to do so while honouring the memories of those who were of the Mandela United Football Club..." from the author's introduction

Sisonke Msimang divides her time between South Africa and Perth, Australia, where she is head of oral storytelling at the Centre for Stories. Msimang is the author of "Always Another Country", shortlisted for the 2018 Sunday Times Alan Paton Award.