Zindzi Mandela contracted COVID-19; buried beside mom in Jo'burg

South Africa

July 17: Zindzi tested positive for COVID-19

The deceased daughter of Nelson Mandela, ambassador Zindzi Mandela, tested positive for COVID-19 before her death, the family disclosed this week.

Local media reports cited her son, Zondwa as confirming the news. Authorities are yet to ascertain whether it was the cause of death.

Ms Mandela has being buried today, July 17; next to her mother at the Fourways Memorial Park in Johannesburg. Her mother Winnie Madikizela-Mandela died in 2018.

The former South Africa ambassador to Denmark grew up at the height of the anti-apartheid struggle. With her father imprisoned on Robben Island, she endured years of harassment and intimidation by the apartheid regime.

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President Ramaphosa in a tribute to Zindzi extolled her virtues through the anti-apartheid struggle and after its fall. he described her as the pride of her father and thanked the family for the virus status disclosure which he said will go a long way to combat stigma.

“Just yesterday we received the news that Zindzi too had tested positive for the virus. I would like to thank the Mandela family for the very important gesture of sharing this information with the nation. This is a virus that affects us all, and there should never be any stigma around people who become infected.

In doing so you are helping to encourage social acceptance for sufferers. At such a time what they need most is our love and care. This gesture is a final act of solidarity in the life of a woman who devoted her life to the cause of her fellow South Africans.

Zindzi has departed this life, but her legacy lives on in our minds and in our hearts. History will record her great contribution and her great sacrifices. And, for these, we shall forever be grateful.

Lala ngoxolo Madiba.

Nqolomsila.

Yemyem.
#RIPZindziMandela pic.twitter.com/mFCQV4FQ5I

— Cyril Ramaphosa ?? #StaySafe (@CyrilRamaphosa) July 16, 2020

July 13: Zindzi Mandela, Madiba’s daughter dies in South African hospital

South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark has died in Johannesburg at the age of 59, a family source has confirmed to the public broadcaster SABC.

Ambassador Zindzi Mandela was the daughter of South Africa’s anti-apartheid icons Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela.

She was the youngest daughter of the couple and is reputed to have spent many years involved in South Africa’s freedom struggle.

She was deeply involved in the arts, philanthropy and business. She is a co-founder of the Mandela Legacy Foundation and is also Managing Trustee of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.

South Africa’s social media space has been buzzing with tonnes of tribute to Zindzi who was a staunch activist against maladminstration.

Zindzi dies on the same day in 1969 when Mandela’s eldest son Madiba Thembikile (Thembi) also died in a car accident, the Nelson Mandela Foundation posted in its daily updates on the life of the globally celebrated statesman.

Statement: President Ramaphosa hails Zindzi

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 Mandela was a household name nationally and internationally, who during our years of struggle brought home the inhumanity of the apartheid system and the unshakeable resolve of our fight for freedom.

After our liberation she became an icon of the task we began of transforming our society and stepping into spaces and opportunities that had been denied to generations of South Africans.

The giant tree has fallen, the daughter of the soil ZindziMandela is no more and may your soul Rest In Peace Zindziswa Mandela #RIPZindziMandela ✊? pic.twitter.com/tq7iYth8YZ
— Mzilikazi wa Afrika (IamMzilikazi) July 13, 2020