The Trials of Winnie Mandela — Season 1, Episode 6: Chapter 6: NOMZAMO - Mother of Endeavour (1998 – 2013)

Episode synopsis

Winnie faces yet another trial – this time over fraud convictions. At the same time, she shares a meeting with unexpected old friends: former apartheid policeman Paul Erasmus, the man who once terrorised her. They reminisce about “the bad old days” – dirty tricks, surveillance, torture. Is it reconciliation, pragmatism, or something more complex? Meanwhile, former Commissioner of Police Johan van der Merwe denies under examination that orders to torture were ever given. Truth shifts. Memory fractures. Nothing feels settled. Nelson dies with Winnie at his bedside, next to the man who could never forgive her transgressions. The moment is intimate, complicated, and unresolved – another reminder that history rarely offers neat conclusions. As they reflect on these contradictions, Swati and Zaziwe are left with a quieter question: if forgiveness never fully arrives, how does a life move forward in its absence?

About The Trials of Winnie Mandela

Directed by the late, two-time Emmy Award®-winning documentary filmmaker Mandy Jacobson, the series unfolds from the perspective of Madikizela-Mandela’s granddaughters, HRH Princess Zaziwe Manaway (née Dlamini) and HRH Princess Swati Mandela-Dlamini, who is also credited as a producer, as they set out to find the essence of their iconic grandmother, affectionately known to them as ‘Big Mommy’. Through their journey, the story pieces together a portrait shaped by personal accounts, family memory, and public record.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1Chapter 1: MRS MANDELA - The Wife of Nelson Mandela (1936 – 1976)
• E2Chapter 2: ZANYIWE - To Be Tested (1977-1988)
• E3Chapter 3: WINNIE - Fair and Pure (1988 – 1989)
• E4Chapter 4: NOBANDLA – She Who Is of the People (1990 – 1996)
• E5Chapter 5: WINIFRED - Friend of Peace (1996 – 1997)
• E7Chapter 7: WINIFRED NOMZAMO ZANYIWE MANDELA MADIKIZELA (2013 – 2018)