RIP Zindzi Mandela

Tributes have been pouring in following the death of Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane, the daughter of anti-apartheid icons Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Zindzi, aged 59, was South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark, and passed away in Johannesburg in the early hours of yesterday after a short illness.

The cause of death has not been revealed.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, who revealed that Zindzi was designated to take up a diplomatic post in Liberia, recounted how she spent many years involved in the liberation struggle and embraced roles in arts, philanthropy and business.

Ramaphosa said: “I offer my deep condolences to the Mandela family as we mourn the passing of a fearless political activist who was a leader in her own right. Our sadness is compounded by this loss being visited upon us just days before the world marks the birthday of the great Nelson Mandela.”

Zindzi was raised by her mother after Madiba was arrested and jailed during her infancy.

Due to her mother’s frequent troubles with the apartheid government, she was not able to finish school until she was sent to Swaziland.

She later studied at the University of Cape Town, earning a Bachelor of Law Degree in 1985.

That same year, at a public meeting at Jabulani Stadium, Zindzi famously read her father’s reasons for refusing the offer of a conditional release from prison proffered by President P. W. Botha.

She was the younger of Madiba’s two daughters with Winnie, whom he divorced in 1996 two years into his presidency.

Madiba had six children, including four with his first wife Evelyn.

Zindzi’s death coincided with that of her older half brother Thembekile, who died in a car accident on July 13, 1969.

African News Agency