WALTER DHLADHLA/AFP/Getty Images(JOHANNESBURG, South Africa) — Nelson Mandela’s widow has broken her silence, more than six months after the former South African president and anti-apartheid icon died at the age of 95.
In a written statement, Graca Machel said she “lost my best friend, beloved husband, and guide.”
“I have been deeply touched and comforted by the affection shown towards my family and I since Madiba’s illness through to the present moment,” she wrote.
Machel said she plans to return to work as an advocate for women’s and children’s rights.
“Children were very dear to Madiba and his last wish was to build the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital. This is my dream too and I wish it can be realised in my life time,” she said. “My other priority is to continue to advocate for an expanded space for women in Africa to access better opportunities in economic, political and social spheres.”
She continued, “I look forward to helping shape the new global development agenda.”
Machel was Mandela’s third wife; the couple married in 1998.
Mandela endured a number of health issues in his final years, including repeated hospitalizations with a chronic lung infection. His death was announced Dec. 5, 2013.
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