PEOPLE

Zindzi Mandela

BERLIN, GERMANY - JANUARY 28: Zindzi Mandela attends the premiere of the film 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' (Mandela: Der lange Weg zur Freiheit) at Zoo Palast on January 28, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Anita Bugge/WireImage)

QUICK FACTS
Birth Name:	Zindziswa Mandela
Occupation:	Politician
Date of Birth	23 December 1960 (age 63 years)
Died	13 July 2020 (aged 59)
Place of Birth	Soweto, Gauteng
Nationality:	South Africa
Gender:	Female
Parents:	Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Nelson Mandela
Children:	Zoleka Mandela, Zondwa Mandela, Bambatha Mandela, Zwelabo Mandela-Hlongwane
Husband:	Zwelibanzi Hlongwane (divorced) Molapo Motlhajwa

Zindzi Mandela also known as Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane, was a South African politician and the daughter of South African anti-apartheid leaders Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Who is Zindzi Mandela?

Zindzi Mandela was born on 23 December 1960 in Soweto, in what was then the Union of South Africa to Nelson and Winnie Mandela. The year of her birth was also the year that the African National Congress (ANC) launched its armed wing. Her parents were wanted by the government. By the time her father was sent to prison, Zindzi was 18 months old. During her youth Zindzi was often left in the care of her older sister Zenani Mandela when her mother was sent to prison for months at a time.

Beginnings in public life

Zindzi’s mother was banished to the Orange Free State in 1977 and she went to live with her there. Zindzi was not able to complete her education until she was sent to Swaziland. Eventually, her mother was allowed to move back to Soweto.

Zindzi’s father was offered a conditional release in 1985 by the then-State President of South Africa, P. W. Botha. Her father’s reply could not be delivered by either one of her parents. Consequently, Zindzi was chosen to read his refusal at a public meeting on 10 February 1985.

Zindzi’s poetry was published in 1978 in the book Black as I Am, with photographs by Peter Magubane, and has also appeared in publications including Somehow We Survive: An Anthology of South African Writing, edited by Sterling Plumpp and Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby. She studied law at the University of Cape Town,where she earned a BA in 1985.

Career Ambassadorship

Zindzi was appointed South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark in 2014. She first arrived in Denmark in June 2015.

Personal life and death

Zindzi was married twice and had four children: Zoleka Mandela (1980), Zondwa Mandela (1985), Bambatha Mandela (1989) and Zwelabo Mandela (1992). Her first husband was Zwelibanzi Hlongwane. She married her second husband, Molapo Motlhajwa, who was a member of the South African National Defence Force, in March 2013.

*Zindzi died on 13 July 2020 in Johannesburg, at the age of 59.

FACTS by SR