5 October 1975
Winnie Mandela, wife of the then imprisoned African National Congress leader, Nelson Mandela ends her thirteen years of enforced silence with a strong attack on the country's Terrorism Act. Mandela was twice detained under section 6 of the notorious Terrorism Act, which permitted 90 days imprisonment without trial. She was repeatedly placed under solitary confinement in the Pretoria Central Prison and allowed only one visitor at time. The only thing that kept her going was the Mandela name and her two young daughters, who were a constant reminder of survival. Mandela criticised the Act as Afrikaners's cowardly manner of trying to suppress those that speak against the horrendous deeds of the government.
References
South African History Online, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, [online], Available at www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed: 4 October 2013]|News24 (2013),'Winnie Mandela releases prison journal', 9 August, [online], Available at www.news24.com [Accessed: 4 October 2013]|Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory (2013), '491Days: Prisoner Number 1323/69 - Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's book now on shelves,, 10 August, [online], Available at www.nelsonmandela.org [Accessed: 4 October 2013]