There's a genuine sense of grief in South Africa with the death of controversial radical Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

The former wife of Nelson Mandela and ANC activist has died aged 81.

The controversial anti-apartheid campaigner's life is being viewed quite differently inside South Africa than in the rest of the world.

While international obituaries today largely look at her involvement with violence, youth gangs, the practice of "necklacing" and fraud, the Guardian's Jason Burke told Mike Hosking she is very much being mourned in South Africa.

 

"There's very little negativity about Winnie Mandela and her history and her achievements and so forth, here at the moment."

Burke says she was seen as one of the few remaining elder figures of the anti-apartheid struggle.

"There is a genuine sense that this is a turning point and the end of an era in a sense."

Burke says she carried a torch for the common man and woman in South Africa and the grief at her passing is quite profound.

LISTEN ABOVE AS JASON BURKE SPEAKS WITH MIKE HOSKING