BREAKING! Anti-Apartheid hero, Winnie Mandela dies aged 81

South African anti-apartheid activist Winnie Mandela has died today aged 81.

She died in a Johannesburg hospital after a long illness, family spokesman Victor Dlamini said in a statement.

“It is with profound sadness that we inform the public that Mrs Winnie Madikizela-Mandela passed away at the Netcare Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa on Monday,” the statement read.

“She died after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year. She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones.”

Winnie fought side by side with Nelson Mandela against apartheid in the country and continued while the iconic African leader was incarcerated.

Her marriage to Nelson was mostly spent apart, as the revolutionary was imprisoned for 27 years, leaving her to raise their two daughters alone.

Winnie and Nelson were married for 38 years.

Tributes have started pouring in for the iconic South African activist, with anti-apartheid campaigner and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu describing her as “a defining symbol” of the struggle 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,” he said.

“Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists.”

The head of policy in the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Jeff Radebe described Winnie as “an icon of the revolutionary struggle.”