Stand by your man

National Review, April 27, 1992

WINNIE MANDELA, the Hillary Clinton of South Africa, was reported to be separating from her husband of 34 years, ANC President Nelson Mandela. Sources said she would also be leaving the ANC and retiring from politics. That's good news for South Africa.

Her husband's 27-year incarceration is the sort of thing that would put a strain on any marriage. But she, like Mrs. Clinton, had no desire to stay at home baking cookies. She and her phalanx of bodyguard/thugs, known unaffectionately as the "Mandela United Football Club," cut quite a figure as ANC enforcers, to the point where she and a colleague were convicted of kidnapping and assault in connection with the beating to death of a young man who had had the effrontery to resist her authority. She has been free pending appeal. New allegations are surfacing about these activities.

As South Africa heads toward some form of majority-rule government, in which Nelson Mandela may play a significant part, it could be that he's not sure he wants her on the ticket. Who knows? Perhaps Bill Clinton will reach the same conclusion.