Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who emerged as a combative anti-apartheid campaigner during Nelson Mandela's decades in jail but whose reputation was later tainted by allegations of violence, died on Monday in a Johannesburg hospital.
In a statement, her family said she had "fought valiantly against the Apartheid state" and that she was known "far and wide as the Mother of the Nation".
Winnie Mandela, who was married to Nelson Mandela for 38 years, played a high-profile role in the struggle to end white-minority rule, but her place in history was stained by controversy and accusations of violence.
Winnie Mandela with her former husband Nelson Mandela at a rally in Soweto, South Africa in 1990.
AAP
Leading the tributes, anti-apartheid campaigner and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu described her as "a defining symbol" of the battle against oppression.
"She refused to be bowed by the imprisonment of her husband, the perpetual harassment of her family by security forces, detentions, bannings and banishment," Tutu said.
"Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists."
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said she was a "voice of defiance" against white-minority rule.
"Winnie was a voice of defiance and resistance. In the face of exploitation, she was a champion of justice and equality," he said in a televised address, adding that she "was an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free".
