The world can vilify you. The world can call you names. But your home is where you can find solace and love. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is no exception.
Dusty, rural, all but forgotten, the village of Mbongweni, Bizana, in the Eastern Cape is where Winnie was born 70 years ago. It is still her haven - a place where people love her unconditionally.
Fond memories of Zanyiwe, the principal's daughter, are warmly shared.
In that hamlet, where poverty is still rife, the people don't know her by the name "Winnie". Community members say: "You must say you are looking for Zanyiwe and not Winnie, igama lakhe nguZanyiwe apha (her name is Zanyiwe here)." Her link with Nelson Mandela is still strong.
Far away as they may be from the metropolises and urban sprawl, people here regard her as their mother, the woman who fought for South Africa's liberation. But there is deep unhappiness in their perception of how the ruling party is treating her.
Her cousin, Prince Madikizela, who is an attorney in Bizana, wishes Winnie well on her 70th birthday. But his voice is one of the loudest when it comes to expressing dissatisfaction with the ANC about her position in politics, even if he chooses to be diplomatic.
"You know, in politics, when people want to maintain a good name, others are sacrificed - and unfortunately it was she who was sacrificed."
Madikizela says he remembers meeting Zanyiwe in 1962 in Swaziland when she was a young mother of two beautiful daughters, Zenani and Zindzi. She had gone to look for a school for one of Mandela's children, Thembekile, and was accompanied by the late Walter Sisulu, who was also looking for a school for his son, Mlungisi.
"She was a very strong woman who looked not only after her own children, but embraced the children of her husband," says Madikizela.
He explains how she would organise for young ANC cadres to get training in the Eastern Cape, and that is how her long friendship with Bantu Holomisa began. It continues to this day, with Winnie and Holomisa recently pictured at a rugby match with her grandchildren.
Although Madikizela says he doesn't know "exactly what happened" between his cousin and the former president, he is certain that "if there was no Winnie, probably there would be no Mandela".
"Mandela was not the only person who was imprisoned. There were many political prisoners. But the difference between them and Mandela was that Mandela had a voice - and that voice was uZanyiwe."
He is convinced that there "would also be no home, no Orlando, because she ran the home single-handedly while he was in jail".
"I can tell you that even (cleric Allan) Boesak went to prison to protect the ANC, and if Winnie had not done what she did, we would not be talking of a Mandela."
His view is that, when one is in prison, "one lives a sub-human life, but when Mandela came out, she was not good enough to be next to him. But I can't say who was wrong. You can pick and choose."
Madikizela says Zanyiwe fought for the liberation of the country, and her problems with the ANC started when she voiced her opinion that people on the ground were not reaping the rewards of democracy.
"I think the younger generation could learn something from her. She deserves far more than what she is getting from the ANC. Today they are embarrassed to be associated with her, but I urge her to hold on."
Her family believe she was a born leader.
The one story that is told in every Madikizela household is that of her effort to take another child, Mpenqu Miya - fondly known as Manombolo - to school. The child's father wanted her to look after the cattle, but Winnie secretly intervened. She would take extra clothes along in the mornings so that Miya could slip away from the fields and attend school.
Winnie's efforts were fruitless, however, because Miya could not bear the whippings she got from her father, and ended up quitting school.
"Azange ndichole naphantsi esikolweni ngoba utata wathi uzakundibulala nomama ukhe ndaya eskolweni." (I never went to school because my father threatened to kill me and my mother if I went to school again.) Manombolo doesn't know how old she is and isn't aware of the position that Winnie holds in society, but she knows "Zanyiwe, the beautiful girl who used to bring me clothes, so that I could go to school.
"I know Zanyiwe. We grew up together. She was the most beautiful girl in this village and very loving. We would meet at a place called emforweni (furrow) where I used to watch the cattle. Zanyiwe would come fetch me and say 'Let's go to school'.
"I think they (Winnie's family) were quite well off, although I can't remember clearly what her father was doing, but he was a respected person. She used to beg me and encourage me and she also gave me her slate and pencil. She would break it in half. She really loved me."
Manombolo says she would feel honoured to see her friend Zanyiwe again, because she hasn't seen her in many years.
"I think the last time I heard she was here in Mbongweni was when her brother Msuthu died, but I did not speak to her."
For her birthday, the message is "Ngathi ndingambona umngani, siyayiva imisebenzi yakhe anga uThixo angambeka akhule amthi jize ngeminye iminyaka". Loosely translated: I wish I could see her again. We hear about her works and I wish that God would bless her with many more years to come.
Madikizela-Mandela's sister-in-law, Manyawuza - who stays in the original home where Madikizela-Mandela grew up - remembers her as a "loving child who coached me as a makoti when I got married to her brother".
Manyawuza said Madikizela-Mandela had lots of friends.
"This yard was filled with children coming to her. She would take off her own clothes for other children, just to make sure that they had what she had.
"I was there and witnessed when the Boers were harassing her. That child was a born leader, so it pains me when I see how the organisation for which she lived and for which she was willing to die is treating her."
Manyawuza's wish for Winnie is: "Akhule ngoxolo ekubeni enikhuphe eludakeni, ebalekile amagwala esejele. Yena ephithizela phakathi kwamabhulu andinazi ngeniphi namhlanje ukuba la Zanyiwe wayengekho". Loosely translated: "She grows in peace; she has taken you out of the dungeon while the cowards ran away to prison, and she was here tackling the Boers head-on. I don't know, if it wasn't for Zanyiwe, what you would be as a country."
Cikizwa Madikizela says her niece was the most beautiful and loving of all her sisters.
"After all the persecutions she went through for utata (Mandela), she was not good enough for him when he came out. She must know that here in Mbongweni we love her and wish her a good life. We know what she did for this country."
Vumani Madikizela, who is now the deputy principal of the school where Winnie's father was principal, says: "We miss people like usisi, but we understand that she is a person of the world. We see how things have turned out for her, but she will always be in our hearts and minds, and her works will never be forgotten.
"She will remain in the history books of this country, whether people like it or not."