Winnie Mandela called her divorce a "travesty of justice" Wednesday and said she was considering appealing to the nation's highest court.
On Tuesday, a judge granted President Nelson Mandela's request to end his 38-year marriage on the ground that his wife had been unfaithful.Winnie Mandela had fired her lawyer moments before the judge granted the divorce. Wednesday, in a combative statement, she complained she had been forced to represent herself, and that the judge had refused to wait for her to bring in witnesses.
"My ex-husband has fought all his life against this kind of injustice," she said. "That such injustice happened in his presence undermines everything our marriage was all about."
She signed her statement Madikizela-Mandela, incorporating her maiden name.
It was not clear whether Madikizela-Mandela had grounds for the Constitutional Court appeal she said she was considering. But her statement showed her determination not to quietly end a marriage that had symbolized the struggle against white minority rule, yet collapsed as the black majority came to power.
Nelson Mandela, 77, asked for a divorce last year, expressing hope for a quiet, amicable settlement. Winnie Mandela, 60, refused, forcing this week's formal divorce proceedings.
In his own short statement Wednesday, Nelson Mandela said he regretted that his "ex-wife could not bring herself to negotiate an amicable settlement. It would have saved us both and our children much pain."