EVENT INFORMATION

11
November
1969

Mandela begins addressing Winnie as “Dade wethu” in letters

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Biography 📅 11 November 1969 📍 South Africa

In his first letter using the Sesotho address “Dade wethu” (“our sister”), Mandela wrote to Winnie while she was imprisoned in Pretoria. He reframed their relationship in the language of shared political responsibility and equality within the freedom struggle. The correspondence records intimacy under surveillance and imprisonment, while also showing Winnie as an organizer with her own political responsibilities rather than only as the wife of a famous prisoner.

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People in this event

Nelson Mandela

Organizations in this Event

Mandela family

African National Congress

Pretoria Central Prison

Robben Island Prison