 In 1991, Winnie Mandela was convicted of kidnapping and being an accessory to assault, but her six-year jail sentence was reduced to a fine and a two-year suspended sentence on appeal.Mandela's role was later probed as part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, in 1997.This incident became a "cause célèbre" for the apartheid government and opponents of the ANC, and Winnie Mandela's iconic status was dealt a heavy blow.