"My father was a symbol of authority, both because of his role in the family as a father and the fact that he was our school principal. When my father walked into the room where we were, we stood up until he left the room. We never sat on his lap, we never played with him, we never really enjoyed the warmth of a family relationship."

Winnie Mandela had a very strict upbringing, her parents were both teachers and her father was the head at the mission school. The sixth of eleven children, Winnie had a reputation in the family for being the most wilful and difficult. She qualified as a social worker and within two years had met and married Nelson Mandela, a forty year old attorney who was also an activist with the ANC* - the African National Congress(link to glossary). At that time, South Africans were living under apartheid*. Winnie said that at first she was in awe of Nelson Mandela, having heard so much about him and his activities. They had only four years together before he was sentenced to life imprisonment on conspiracy charges.