Winnie Mandela Quits Post, Criticizes Estranged Husband

Winnie Mandela may have lost the battle to keep her job as a deputy Cabinet minister, but she fired the last shot Monday.

At a brief news conference at her Soweto home, Mrs. Mandela announced that she was resigning her government post immediately--one day before her second dismissal by President Nelson Mandela, her estranged husband, was to take effect.

Mrs. Mandela, a flamboyant politician known for both her chutzpah and her charisma, did not go gently into unemployment. She complained to reporters that her sacking was “legally invalid and unconstitutional” and that the appointment of her replacement, human rights lawyer Bridgette Mabandla, was similarly “irregular and unconstitutional.”

She bitterly criticized the president for refusing to detail his reasons for firing her as deputy minister for arts, science, culture and technology, and called his previous statements “facile.”

“The president owes it to me as a citizen of the country, in my capacity as deputy minister, and to the general membership of the (African National Congress) and to our nation at large to explain in full and clear terms why he chose to terminate my appointment as deputy minister,” she said.

And she called the government’s handling of her firing “clumsy, unprofessional and inept.”

Mrs. Mandela, 58, said she was stepping down to attend to “more pressing” interests, which she did not identify.

President Mandela, who separated from his wife in 1992, first fired her from his government three weeks ago. When she challenged the dismissal in court as unconstitutional, he rehired her just long enough to meet the letter of the law before firing her again Friday.

Mrs. Mandela, convicted of kidnaping in 1991, has been a lightning rod for controversy and scandal since joining the first post-apartheid government. She was accused of shady business deals, of disobeying the president’s orders and of criticizing government policies in public.

Most important, police are investigating allegations that she accepted kickbacks and bribes in exchange for using her influence to provide public housing contracts. No charges have been filed.

Mrs. Mandela remains popular in some areas and is unlikely to disappear from the political limelight. She said Monday she would retain her seat in Parliament, her position on the ANC national executive committee and her leadership of the ANC Women’s League.