Netflix premiered a seven-part documentary series on Thursday, April 23, titled The Trials of Winnie Mandela, giving audiences an intimate and unflinching look at the life of South African anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, two days before today.
The trailer was released on the eighth anniversary of Madikizela-Mandela’s passing, a timing that added weight to what the series sets out to do: piece together the full, complicated portrait of a woman the world knew as the Mother of the Nation.
Directed by the late two-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Mandy Jacobson, the series is told through the eyes of Madikizela-Mandela’s granddaughters, HRH Princess Zaziwe Manaway (née Dlamini) and HRH Princess Swati Mandela-Dlamini, who also serves as a producer. The two set out to find the essence of their iconic grandmother, whom they called “Big Mommy.” 
Audiences hear Madikizela-Mandela speak in her own words, drawing on never-before-seen footage from the later years of her life. She reflects on her childhood, her activism, and her relationships as a wife, mother, and comrade. The series does not shy away from the controversies that trailed her public image, her persecution by the apartheid regime, her banishment, and her detention, while also giving voice to her detractors and harshest critics.
Prominent figures lending their perspectives include former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, former President Kgalema Motlanthe, anti-apartheid activist Dr. Nakedi Mathews Phosa, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, political analyst Sisonke Msimang, human rights lawyer Yasmin Sooka, visual artists Nkululeko Mahlangu and Loyiso Mkize, newspaper editor Mondli Makhanya, and Madikizela-Mandela’s longtime personal assistant Zodwa Zwane.
Members of the notorious Nelson Mandela Football Club also feature, alongside family members of Siboniso Tshabalala and Stompie Moeketsi, who speak about the lasting wounds of their deaths and Madikizela-Mandela’s alleged involvement.
The documentary describes its central tension as a “delicate dance” between her iconic status as a revolutionary and her human fragilities, a portrait shaped by personal accounts, family memory, and public record.
Notably for Swazi viewers, the series carries a royal connection closer to home. HRH Princess Zaziwe Manaway bears the maiden name Dlamini, and HRH Princess Swati Mandela-Dlamini, as a producer of the series, brings a distinctly royal perspective to one of Southern Africa’s most enduring and debated legacies.
The Trials of Winnie Mandela is now available to stream on Netflix.
