Mandela ex-wife Winnie remains political force at 70

JOHANNESBURG, Sep 27 (Reuters) South Africans marked the 70th birthday of controversial anti-apartheid heroine Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who is re-emerging as a symbol for leftists in the nation's divided ruling alliance.

Madikizela-Mandela, who fought for decades against South Africa's white minority rule government, received a stream of congratulatory phone calls, including one from her famous ex-husband Nelson Mandela yesterday.

''Nelson Mandela called early in the day and they had a very lengthy discussion about life,'' said Udo Froese, a spokesman for Madikizela-Mandela. ''He called her Zami, an endearment name for his ex-wife. They spent a heck of long time on the phone.'' Madikizela-Mandela, who married Mandela in 1958, was a fearsome opponent of the apartheid regime while her husband languished in jail for 27 years until his historic release in 1990.

She gained heroine status as she underwent detention, banishment and imprisonment over the years, crowning her leadership role as the firebrand head of the women's wing of the now ruling African National Congress (ANC).

But her star began to fall after Mandela's release.

Known as ''Mother of the Nation'' for her role in the freedom struggle, she was branded the ''Mugger of the Nation'' after revelations about the violent activities of her ''Mandela United Football Club'' group of enforcers.

She was convicted in 1991 of kidnapping and assault in connection with the death of a 14-year-old township activist, whose body was found near her home with his throat cut. Her six-year jail term was later reduced on appeal to a fine.

Her reputation was further knocked when Mandela sacked her from his newly-elected ANC government in 1995 and divorced her for adultery a year later. Yet she remains popular to many, especially among the ANC's rank and file and its leftist allies.

Last week she received a rapturous welcome at a congress of the powerful COSATU trade union federation, an ANC ally that has become increasingly disillusioned with what it perceives to be the pro-business tilt of the government.

REUTERS SRS RAI0441