Haleh Afshar, Professor of Politics and Women's Studies at York University, summarises Winnie's achievements and acknowledges her shortcomings:

"Winnie Mandela is another example of woman in resistance [in] impossible situations because she represented her husband when he was unable to speak… and she stood for him, and she always spoke as if she were his voice. What is interesting, and what we saw once he came out, is that very often she was her own voice but she represented him because it was easier to represent a male voice in a male world. She too always stayed in touch with the grassroots, she was always and she remains her people's person...Winnie Mandela has suffered from her own vision of herself. She fought hard for many years, in impossible positions, and defended a cause that she believed in. But of course she then made mistakes and she is very unwilling to realise that she is not only an icon she is a person but she expects everyone to put her on a pedestal. Seeing her recently admitting to her mistakes shows that she has … learned you can't be an icon."