Zindzi Mandela, daughter of former South African president and liberation hero Nelson Mandela, has died, Nelson Mandela Foundation confirmed on Monday.
Zindzi Mandela, whose mother was anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, rose to international prominence when she read out Nelson Mandela’s rejection of then-president P.W. Botha’s offer for freedom in 1985.
State broadcaster SABC said the 59-year-old, who was serving as South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark, died in a hospital in Johannesburg on Monday.
“Zindzi will not only be remembered as a daughter of our struggle's heroes, Tata Nelson and Mama Winnie Mandela, but as a struggle heroine in her own right," said South Africa's minister of international relations and cooperation, Naledi Pandor. "She served South Africa well.”
Nelson Mandela Foundation, set up to guard the legacy of South Africa’s first democratically-elected president, said Zindzi Mandela will be remembered as "a special soul."
"We valued her generosity, her warmth and her sense of humor," the foundation said in a statement.