JOHANNESBURG - Winnie Mandela, the former wife of ex-President Nelson Mandela, has denied giving an interview accusing him of letting down black South Africans.

Ms Madikizela-Mandela said the article, published in London's Evening Standard newspaper this week, was a fabrication.

The article was written by Nadira Naipaul, the wife of Nobel prize-winning author VS Naipaul.

The Mandelas, who were both leaders in the struggle against South Africa's minority white rule, divorced in 1996.

The article quoted Ms Madikizela-Mandela as saying her former husband had "agreed to a bad deal for the blacks".

Mrs Madikizela-Mandela is a senior ANC member and sits on the party's influential National Executive Committee (NEC).

Mr Mandela became South Africa's first democratic president in 1994.