South Africa: Nelson Mandela’s Daughter and Ambassador to Denmark Zindzi Mandela Dies

South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark Zindziswa Mandela has died.

The Department of International Relations on Monday confirmed the death of the daughter of late struggle icons Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

The 59-year-old was a political activist and was among those who fought the oppressive apartheid regime.

She first took up her position as the ambassador to Denmark in 2015.

When she was 18 months old, her father was sent to prison. Her mother was also imprisoned often at the time, sometimes for months on end, leaving Zindzi in the care of her elder sibling, Zenani.

In 1977 Madikizela-Mandela 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.

zamobserver