Based on Anne Marie du Preez Bezrob's biography Winnie Mandela: A Life, the film is directed by Darrell Roodt and co-stars Wendy Crewson, Elias Koteas and Justin Strydom.

Following the life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (Jennifer Hudson), from her strict rural upbringing by a father disappointed she was not born a boy, to her giving up the chance to study in America in order to remain in South Africa where she felt more needed, through her husband Nelson Mandela's (Terrence Howard) imprisonment.

She then faces continuous harassment by the security police, banishment to a small Orange Free State town, betrayal by friends and allies, and more than a year in solitary confinement.

[6] Writers Andre Pieterse and Darrell Roodt, who also directed, developed the screenplay based on Anne Marie du Preez Bezrob's biography Winnie Mandela: A Life.

The site's consensus states, "Winnie Mandela takes few chances and delves only superficially into its subject's life, making it feel more like a too-earnest made-for-TV movie than a proper biopic.

"[11] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter stated, "Solid performances are undercut by lack of storytelling integrity in this plodding biopic,"[12] and Ed Gibbs of The Guardian said, "This syrupy biography of the former wife of Nelson Mandela seeks to sugar-coat South Africa's complex history.