On a brisk morning in 1980, Winnie Mandela went to visit her husband on Robben Island. Nelson Mandela had been there since 1964. For years, he had only been allowed to see one visitor every six months. That day, she did not bring her usual packages of food and papers, but a single bundle: their first grandchild, only a few months old. This was a brazen violation of the rules: children or grandchildren had to be at least 16 years old to see a prisoner. The 62-year-old Mandela begged his young Afrikaner guard to let him hold the baby. The guard said he would be fired. But then he took the baby from Winnie and let him hold her. It was the first and only time he saw Mandela cry.
As heartbreaking as that story is, it is also a tale of manipulation and bitterness. Winnie had brought the baby as a peace offering for her husband, who was angry about her very public infidelities, her lack of discipline and her seeming inability to control their daughter Zindzi. Winnie was always able to wound her husband and he was always vulnerable to her guile.
