South African anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died aged 81, her personal assistant says.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was the former wife of South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela.
The couple - famously pictured hand-in-hand as Mr Mandela walked free from prison after 27 years - were a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle for nearly three decades.
However, in later years her reputation became tainted legally and politically.
Family spokesman Victor Dlamini said Mrs Mandela "succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones" following a long illness, which had seen her go in and out of hospital since the start of the year.
'Mother of the Nation'
Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was born in 1936 in the Eastern Cape - then known as Transkei.
She was a trained social worker when she met her future husband in the 1950s. They went on to have two daughters together.
They were married for a total of 38 years, although for almost three decades of that time they were separated due to Mr Mandela's imprisonment.
It was Mrs Madikizela-Mandela who took his baton after he was jailed for life, becoming an international symbol of resistance to apartheid. She too was jailed for her role in the fight for justice and equality.
To her supporters, she became known affectionately as "Mother of the Nation".
Who has paid tribute?
After news of her death broke, hundreds of her supporters gathered outside of her home in Soweto, Johannesburg to sing and dance in tribute.
In a televised address President Cyril Ramaphosa - whom Mrs Madikizela-Mandela praised earlier this year - called her as a "voice of defiance" against white-minority rule.
"In the face of exploitation, she was a champion of justice and equality," he said on Monday.
"She as an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free".
Retired archbishop and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu said she was a "defining symbol of the struggle against apartheid".
"Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists," he added.
Energy Minister Jeff Radebe, reading out a statement on behalf of the family, paid tribute to "a colossus who strode the Southern African political landscape".
"As the ANC we dip our revolutionary banner in salute of this great icon of our liberation struggle," he said.
"The Mandela family are deeply grateful for the gift of her life and even as our hearts break at her passing we urge all those who loved her to celebrate this most remarkable South African woman."
African National Congress (ANC) chairperson Gwede Mantashe said: "With the departure of Mama Winnie, [we have lost] one of the very few who are left of our stalwarts and icons. She was one of those who would tell us exactly what is wrong and right, and we are going to be missing that guidance."
<<Print>>