AMBASSADOR Zindzi Mandela, the youngest daughter of South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela and anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, has died at the age of 59.
She died in a Johannesburg hospital in the early hours of Monday morning, public broadcaster SABC said.
She was serving as the South African ambassador to Denmark at the time of her death.
The cause of her death was not immediately revealed.
Zindzi Mandela was Nelson Mandela’s sixth child and his second with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, his second wife.
President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa in a statement said Zindzi Mandela had during the struggle brought home the inhumanity of the apartheid system and the unshakeable resolve of the fight for freedom.
“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. RIP-ZindziMandela”, S/A President stated.