What The Trials of Winnie Mandela Documentary Reveals

The commentary about the ‘Trials of Winnie Mandela’ documentary are quite revealing. It shows that many have not known her story and that those of us who have known it must think deeply about what our anger of its portrayal in this moment means.

Yes, the documentary is triggering. Be triggered. Be triggered to stand where she stood in attempts to rescue this country. We are hurt watching it. What we watched, including the lies and manipulations, is what she lived. The least we can do is confront her pain and be aroused into new consciousness and action by it.

Mam’ Winnie’s story laid bare is a reminder that:

1. The work of radical societal change is not easy.
2. You will need to be willing to risk your comforts if you want to fix this country.
3. Fixing a broken country may break you, fix it anyway.
4. Your reputation may not survive intact in the fight for the soul of the nation. History may not (neatly) absolve you, fight anyway. If you care more about the way history will remember you, you should rather sit this fight out.
5. You’re going to make mistakes. Risk making mistakes as long as your intentions remain principled.
6. Even your comrades may betray you, that’s not reason to betray the work of change. Your detractors aren’t always going to come from the enemy camp. It will also come from comrades who silently want you to fail while whispering, “Who do they think they are to lead?”

Not Yet Uhuru

It’s not yet Uhuru and these things are as true today. Mama herself in the documentary gives us a clue that by 20 years into democracy what she did then was already needed again now.

At her death we said, “She didn’t die, she multiplied” but is that earnestly true yet? What is the evidence that we truly have a new generation of Mam’ Winnie’s? What are our missions? What sacrifices are we willing to make? Are we willing to fearlessly put our bodies and reputations on the line? Are we champions in communities with the most marginalised? Are our homes places of brewing revolution? What good trouble are we making?

Respecting and memorialising Mam’ Winnie ultimately will be in what we do as we watch this country spiral to crisis levels with new agent provocateurs.

WATCH: The Trials of Winnie Mandela Documentary Official Trailer



The Trials of Winnie Mandela is a 7-part documentary series streaming exclusively on Netflix as of April 23, 2026. It is produced by Netflix and explores the life and legacy of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela through her own words and interviews with her granddaughters, Princess Zaziwe Manaway and Princess Swati Mandela-Dlamini.