Zindzi Mandela tested positive for Covid-19 before death, son confirms

Daughter of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela confirmed to have contracted Covid-19 before she passed away in Johannesburg on Monday
At the time of her death, Zindzi Mandela was South Africa's ambassador to Denmark
AFP via Getty Images
David Child16 July 2020

The daughter of South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela had tested positive for Covid-19 when she died, her son has confirmed.

Zindzi Mandela passed away at the age of 59 in Johannesburg on Monday. Her son, Zondwa Mandela, on Thursday told the South African Broadcasting Corporation that his mother had contracted Covid-19 before her death.

"My mother did in fact test positive for Covid-19 on the day of her passing," he said.

"Although this doesn’t, therefore, mean that she died of COVID-19 related complications, but simply that she tested positive for it."

Zondwa added: “Several other tests have been done and those tests will give us further information as to what could have led to her untimely death."

The development came as South Africa’s cases of Covid-19 crossed 300,000 on Wednesday, the most in Africa and among the 10 highest in the world.

At the time of her death, Zindzi Mandela was South Africa's ambassador to Denmark.

She first came to international prominence in 1985, when the white minority Government offered to release Mr 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 read his letter rejecting the offer at a packed public meeting which was broadcast around the world.

The Mandela Legacy Foundation, speaking on behalf of the family, said memorial and funeral arrangements for Zindzi would be announced in the course of this week.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa meanwhile expressed sadness at her passing days before Nelson Mandela’s birthday and said she brought home “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,” Ramaphosa’s office quoted him as saying.

Pule Mabe, spokesman of the governing ANC party, added: “This is untimely. She still had a role to play in the transformation of our own society and a bigger role to play even in the African National Congress.”

Zindzi is survived by her husband and four children.

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