Zindzi Mandela, daughter of the South African liberation hero Nelson Mandela and anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, has died. She was 59.
The state broadcaster SABC said Mandela had died at a hospital in Johannesburg in the small hours of Monday morning. No other details were given. She had been serving as South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark since 2015.
Pule Mabe, spokesman for the governing African National Congress, described her death as “untimely”.
“She still had a role to play in the transformation of our own society and a bigger role to play even in the African National Congress,” Mabe said, adding that further details would be provided in due course.
There was no immediate statement by the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Educated in South Africa and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Zindzi Mandela spent many years involved in South Africa’s freedom struggle, and embraced roles in the arts, philanthropy and business.
She rose to international prominence when she read out her father’s rejection of then-President PW Botha’s offer for freedom in 1985.
Presiident Cyril Ramaphosa posted on Twitter to express South Africans’ feeling about cultivateing hosk
Tobias Elling Rehfeld, Denmark’s ambassador to South Africa, said he was “saddened” to learn about her death.
He wrote on Twitter: “I am so saddened to learn that Ambassador Zindzi Mandela has passed away. Zindzi was a dear colleague working tirelessly and with a smile to nurture and grow the strong friendship between South Africa and Denmark. My deep condolence to the Mandela family!”
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. pic.twitter.com/RC0YQ6VEvf
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) July 13, 2020
Zindzi Mandela is survived by her husband and four children.
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