Nelson Mandela’s daughter Zindzi dies in Johannesburg at the age of 59
- Zindzi Mandela, 59, died this morning in a hospital in Johannesburg
- Zindzi had been South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark since 2015
- She rose to international fame in 1985 after reading her father Nelson Mandela’s letter which rejected a deal with the South African apartheid government
Zindzi Mandela, the daughter of South African anti-apartheid leaders Nelson and Winnie Mandela, has died at the age of 59.
State television South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that Ms Mandela died in hospital in Johannesburg early on Monday morning.
She had been South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark since 2015.
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.
Zindzi Mandela read his letter rejecting the offer at a packed public meeting which was broadcast around the world.
She is survived by her husband and four children.