Nelson Mandela's ex-wife Winnie dead

Johannesburg, April 2
Anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Mandela who was once married to South Africa's first black President Nelson Mandela died here on Monday, reports said. She was 81.

The news came soon after 'Mama Winnie' was taken to a Johannesburg hospital for treatment, said the Sun, quoting the relatives.

Winnie Mandela worked as an activist and a politician even when her husband was arrested.

Famously pictured hand-in-hand as Nelson Mandela walked free from prison after 27 years, the couple was a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle for nearly three decades before her reputation became tainted legally and politically, the BBC reported.