‘She is one of our heroines’: reviled, now revered, Winnie Mandela wins over young South Africa
The legacy of the activist, ANC politician and wife of Nelson Mandela has growing appeal, despite her refusal to apologise for crimes
January 2024
‘To fight with my camera, to kill apartheid’: Peter Magubane – a life in pictures
Born in Johannesburg in 1932, Peter Magubane documented the brutality of apartheid and suffered from banning orders, solitary confinement and beatings as a result. From teaching himself as a boy with a Brownie camera, he went on to work for the influential magazine Drum and became Nelson Mandela’s official photographer. He died on New Year’s Day aged 91. We take a look at Magubane’s remarkable career
May 2023
Observer book of the week
Winnie & Nelson by Jonny Steinberg; The Plot to Save South Africa by Justice Malala – review
A beautiful and sad portrait of the Mandelas’ marriage of opposites is an insightful study of two huge characters, while a gripping and important book reveals how the ANC leader rescued his riven country from civil war
November 2022
‘I want people to walk away with a sense we can triumph together’: the making of Mandela the musical
Two South African brothers have spent seven years developing a show about Nelson Mandela’s younger, radical years. We talk to the makers and stars of the show
July 2020
The power of touch
The power of touch: I was hugged for the first time at 18. It meant confronting my deepest fears
I had grown up in brutal poverty, and saw touch as a privilege for those with less traumatic backgrounds. Then a friend and mentor changed my life
January 2020
Dear Winnie review – thrilling homage to the flawed mother of South Africa
The complicated legacy of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is fearlessly transformed into a radical and rousing musical
April 2019
Bookmark this
Jocelyn Moorhouse, Richard Cooke, Jessica Rowe and others on what they're reading in April
Plus Sisonke Msimang on Winnie Mandela, a satire of the Anzac legend from Wayne Macauley and Sophie Cunningham’s essay collection, City of Trees
July 2018
Nelson Mandela's unpublished prison letters are full of life and love
Regrets, recipes for herbal tea and dreams of Winnie dancing ... Mandela’s letters from Robben Island reveal the family man behind the political warrior
Observer book of the weekWinnie & Nelson by Jonny Steinberg; The Plot to Save South Africa by Justice Malala – reviewA beautiful and sad portrait of the Mandelas’ marriage of opposites is an insightful study of two huge characters, while a gripping and important book reveals how the ANC leader rescued his riven country from civil war
