OTTAWA–The ex-wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela has been barred from entering Canada, stranding her at home in Johannesburg when she had planned to stand in the spotlight last night at a Toronto gala for an opera that celebrates her life.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 70, learned Monday that her application for a temporary resident visa had been denied, just as she was packing her bags and preparing to fly to Toronto for the event with her daughter.

An event organizer told a steady stream of reporters of Madikizela-Mandela's disappointment even as performers rehearsed in the background of the Capitol Event Theatre on Yonge Street.

"She's devastated, we're devastated. She'd gone a week before that to get her visa and everything was fine," Carole Adriaans of MusicaNoir said.

The MusicaNoir theatre company, which launches The Passion of Winnie Friday night, was stunned in part because the human rights campaigner and AIDS activist had been in New York City just three weeks ago to receive an award for her efforts tackling the medical scourge in her native country.

Hardy Jimbes, founder and president of the New York-based Save Africa Concert Foundation, said it was relatively easy to arrange the visit with U.S. officials. He sent a letter to the embassy in South Africa with information about the award his organization was bestowing on Madikizela-Mandela and the temporary visas were processed for the trip, which lasted from May 18 to 22. "I don't understand why they would refuse a visa to her," Jimbes told the Star in a telephone interview after he was informed of Canada's decision. "It's uncalled for."

It appears that Canadian immigration officials were more influenced by Madikizela-Mandela's criminal record than by her record of good work and advocacy when they processed her visa application.

Along with Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress party, Madikizela-Mandela was prominent in the fight to free the country's black majority from the white minority's apartheid regime. But she has also been sentenced to prison twice for crimes seemingly separate from her political struggle.

In 1991, one year after her last public visit to Canada, she was convicted of kidnapping a 14-year-old boy and being an accessory to his murder.

In 2003, she was convicted of 68 counts of theft and fraud in connection with a number of bank loan applications in the name of non-existent individuals she said were in the African National Congress Women's League.

She pleaded that she was only trying to help poor women, but the judge discounted her argument, saying: "You are no Robin Hood." Still, she escaped both convictions without serving jail time.

Canadian officials would not comment directly on the case, but said anyone with a criminal record is automatically barred from entering Canada except if they obtain a ministerial permit. There were more than 247,000 temporary residents permitted into Canada in 2005. A member of the House of Commons immigration committee estimated that between 600 and 1,000 ministerial permits are granted each year. "It's certainly not immediately apparent why such a visa should be denied," said NDP Leader Jack Layton.

"Unfortunately, there are far too many visas being denied to individuals who want to come to this country for a whole series of very positive and helpful purposes."

Many politicians and dignitaries had already lent their support to the opera honouring her life, which reportedly received a $20,000 federal grant.

Governor General Michaëlle Jean, Ontario Lieutenant Governor James Bartleman, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Toronto Mayor David Miller, former Ontario premier Bob Rae and Toronto Liberal MP Bill Graham all sent written declarations of support to be published in the opera's program.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper declined a request to write a message of support for the show, Adriaans told the Star. But Secretary of State for Multiculturalism Jason Kenney sent along his support for a show that, he wrote, "demonstrates the potential of artistic expression to enhance cross-cultural understanding and communication."

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Graham's message says that Canadians are proud of the "solidarity they shared with South Africans in the struggle against apartheid.

"Today we remain connected to South Africa through bonds of shared values and a shared view of global interests," he wrote.