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Nelson Mandela's daughter Zindzi dies aged 59

Zindzi Mandela, the daughter of South African anti-apartheid leaders Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, has died aged 59.

State television South African Broadcasting Corporation has reported that Mandela died at a Johannesburg hospital early Monday morning. The cause of her death has not been announced.

She had been South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark since 2015.

Zindzi Mandela attends the premiere of the film 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' on January 28, 2014 in Berlin, Germany.
Zindzi Mandela has died aged 59. She's been South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark since 2015. Source: Getty

The Mandelas’ daughter came to international prominence in 1985, when the white minority government offered to release Nelson Mandela from prison if he denounced violence perpetrated by his movement, the Africa National Congress, against apartheid, the brutal system of racial discrimination enforced in South Africa at that time.

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Zindzi read his letter rejecting the offer at a packed public meeting that was broadcast around the world.

Last year, she stirred controversy by calling for the return of the white-owned land to South Africa’s dispossessed Black majority.

“Dear Apartheid Apologists, your time is over. You will not rule again. We do not fear you. Finally #TheLandIsOurs,” Zindzi tweeted in June last year.

Naomi Campbell, Makaziwe Mandela and Zindzi Mandela on stage during the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 at FNB Stadium in 2018.
Zindzi Mandela on stage during the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 at FNB Stadium in 2018. Source: Getty Images

South Africa’s foreign affairs minister Naledi Pandor has expressed shock at Zindzi’s death, describing her as a heroine.

“Zindzi will not only be remembered as a daughter of our struggle heroes, Tata Nelson and Mama Winnie Mandela, but as a struggle heroine in her own right. She served South Africa well,” Ms Pandor said.

Zindzi is survived by her husband and four children.

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