Winnie Mandela facing fraud charge

Winnie gives evidence at the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission

Police in South Africa say Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the former wife of Nelson Mandela, is being charged with fraud.

Mrs Madikizela-Mandela - the head of the African National Congress Women's League - is to appear before a court in Pretoria on Thursday to face charges relating to an alleged fraud involving the use of her signature to obtain bank loans.

Investigators said the total amount believed to have been obtained was more than $100,000.

A broker, Addy Moolman, has also been charged in the case.

He is alleged to have obtained bank loans for non-existent women's league employees using Mrs Madikizela-Mandela's name and letterheads.

Controversy

Mrs Mandela has had a controversial political career.

She played a prominent role in the anti-apartheid struggle whilst Nelson Mandela was held in prison, and spent several short spells in prison and solitary confinement herself.

However her political and personal excesses, became an embarrassment for her husband and for the ANC.

Her conviction regarding the kidnapping and murder of 14-year-old Stompei Seipei Moketsi, and her eventual divorce from Nelson Mandela did not however send her completely into the political wilderness.

She retained a strong appeal among activists and radicals and kept maintained an important political role as head of the ANC Women's League during the 1990s..