by Thinus Ferreira
On 23 April, Netflix will add the 7-episode documentary series from the late, Emmy-award-winning director Mandy Jacobson, The Trials of Winnie Mandela, that contains never-before-seen footage of the late South African struggle icon, along with interviews dissecting her legacy.
Produced through production companies Indelible Media and The African Oral History Archive, The Trials of Winnie Mandela has Barbara King as producer, as well as Swati Mandela-Dlamini, one of Madikizela-Mandela's granddaughters.
Swati Mandela-Dlamini also fronts the documentary series with another granddaughter Zaziwe Manaway (née Dlamini). Both fronted the 2013 reality series Being Mandela.
Ivor Ichikowitz, Mandy Jacobson and John Nyoka served as executive producers.
In this new documentary series, Swati Mandela-Dlamini and Zaziwe Manaway look at the life of their grandmother, known as the "Mother of the nation", pieced together by personal accounts, family anecdotes and public records.
Featured in The Trials of Winnie Mandela are former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke, former president Kgalema Motlanthe, anti-apartheid activist Dr Nakedi Mathews Phosa, advocate Thuli Madonsela, political analyst and writer Sisonke Msimang, human rights lawyer Yasmin Sooka, visual artists Nkululeko Mahlangu and Loyiso Mkize, newspaper editor Mondli Makhanya, as well as Madikizela-Mandela's longtime personal assistant Zodwa Zwane.
Also included are members of the notorious Nelson Mandela Football Club, as well as family members of Siboniso Tshabalala and Stompie Moeketsi, who reflect on the lasting wounds of their deaths and Madikizela-Mandela’s involvement.
In The Trials of Winnie Mandela, she reflects in her own words on her childhood, her activism, and her relationships as a wife, mother,
and comrade in some never-before-seen footage from the later years of her life.
The documentary series explores the controversies that
defined her public image, including the headlines and scandals that
followed her, as well as her persecution by the apartheid regime.
Also included in this biographical work are the voices of some of her detractors and some of her harshest
critics, offering a fuller view of a life lived under unforgiving,
relentless scrutiny.
According to Netflix's synopsis, "Like
most families, the Madikizela-Mandela family is complicated – complex
characters and stories that hover between half-truths and
never-spoken-about moments as two granddaughters discover, when they go
on a journey to find the essence of their grandmother".
"But this is no
ordinary grandmother. This is Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, one of South
Africa’s greatest feminist icons – a revered, global figure. One whose
legacy continues to remain shrouded in mystery and intrigue. An icon
embroiled in allegations of kidnapping, assault and murder."
