Winnie denies trashing Mandela

WINNIE Madikizela-Mandela yesterday said she never granted an interview to a journalist who quoted her in a British newspaper as saying her ex-husband Nelson Mandela had "let down" the blacks.

"I did not give Naipaul an interview. It is therefore not necessary for me to respond in any detail to the contents of a fabricated interview," Madikizela-Mandela said in a statement, referring to Nadira Naipaul, the wife of acclaimed novelist VS Naipaul. "I will in the coming days deal with what I see as an inexplicable attempt to undermine the unity of my family, the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the high regard with which the name Mandela is held here and across the globe," she said. However local media said Madikizela-Mandela spoke to Naipaul but was unaware the conversation was an interview. Her scathing comments about the internationally respected statesman were reported in the London Evening Standard this week where she was quoted as saying: "Mandela let us down. He agreed to a bad deal for the blacks."AFP