Zindzi Mandela, the daughter of South Africa’s anti-apartheid icons Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, has died at the age of 59.
She died in a Johannesburg hospital in the early hours of Monday, July 13. News of Zindzi’s death has been confirmed by the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Zindzi Mandela’s son, Bambatha also shared a photo of his mother with the caption “Rest in Peace”.
The deceased who is survived by her husband and four children, served as South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark. She first took up her position as the ambassador to Denmark in 2015.
She was 18 months old when her father was sent to prison. Her mother was also imprisoned often at that time, leaving her in the care of her elder sibling, Zenani. In 1977 her mother Winnie was banished to Brandfort, then in the Orange Free State, and Zindzi moved with her, taking her out of her normal life. She then moved to Swaziland and upon finishing high school, enrolled at the University of Cape Town for a law degree.
She and her sister soon became effective spokespeople for her imprisoned parents. In 1985, the year she graduated, Zindzi was selected to read her father’s refusal speech after the then president PW Botha offered him conditional release from prison.
Zindzi has written poetry and has been published on several occasions. One of her works, Black As I Am, included pictures taken by revered Drum magazine journalist, Peter Magubane.
