FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE UNTIL VERY END
Although her parents were icons, Zindzi never lived in their shadow, write Sifiso Mahlangu and Siyabonga Mkhwanazi
AS SOUTH Africa mourns the sudden passing of the ambassador to Denmark and daughter of Nelson and Winnie Madikizela-mandela, Zindzi Mandela, a racial storm is brewing in South Africa.
Lindiwe Sisulu, the ANC national executive committee member and a family friend, has called on black South Africans to respond to the attacks on Zindzi.
After she died, a few white South Africans lambasted her memory on social media, calling her “ugly and fat like her mother”.
Speaking on the sidelines of Mandela’s funeral in Randburg on Friday, Sisulu called on black South Africans to defend Zindzi’s legacy.
“She was strong and gracious. It’s painful to see what some are doing to her on (social) media. I hope black people will respond to this. We will respond,” Sisulu said.
A few other posts likened Zindzi to her mother, struggle stalwart Winnie, who was known to be a firebrand, often physically confronting racism. Her passing has thrown the land debate back into the public discourse.
Last year, a few months after her mother’s death, Zindzi sent out a series of tweets attacking “land thieves”. While many thought President Cyril Ramaphosa would recall her from her diplomatic mission, Mandela seemed likely to finish her term.
Sources close to the Mandela family have revealed to Independent Media that Mandela was preparing for a mission in Nigeria where she would have been posted in October.
“She was very close to the EFF, and the president was afraid that recalling her would push her directly into the EFF’S hands. A Mandela joining the EFF would be disastrous for the ANC’S PR image,” the source said.
While yesterday marked Nelson Mandela’s birthday and kick-started Mandela Day in the country, Zindzi never got to see her father’s birthday celebrations.
Mandela would have turned 102 years old yesterday. His legacy remains alive in the world today as Mandela Day is celebrated globally.
Political parties, from the ANC to the EFF, the IFP and UDM, paid tribute to Zindzi Mandela throughout the week, describing her as a Struggle hero in her own right.
Ramaphosa said she was a freedom fighter and activist.
“We have lost a devoted activist, a patriot and a fearless freedom fighter whose life was committed to the liberation of this country,” said Ramaphosa.
Zindzi was born a few months after the Sharpeville massacre in the Vaal in 1960.
During her years as a freedom fighter she was also involved in the underground activities of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).
In the late 1970s she published a volume of poems titled Black as I am.
This defines a lot of things Zindzi was during the years of the fight against apartheid.
She was with her mother, Madikizela-mandela, and sister when they were banished to Brandfort in the Free State in 1977.
The apartheid regime wanted to break her mother’s spirit by sending her to Brandfort to be isolated from their community in Soweto.
But Zindzi never allowed this to distract her from the overall mission of the Struggle for freedom.
In the 1980s, when the country was on fire, she led from the front.
She believed in her ideas and the ultimate fight for freedom in her lifetime.
Former president Jacob Zuma also paid tribute to Zindzi last week.
“We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family, to the liberation movement and to the people of South Africa at large for the loss of this daughter of our Struggle icons who was also a freedom fighter in her own right. May her soul rest in peace,” said Zuma.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Desmond and Leah Tutu foundation also paid tribute to Zindzi, who died at the age of 59.
Minister of State Security Ayanda Dlodlo described Zindzi as an important member of the underground and spoke about how she recruited the youth to swell the ranks of the liberation movement and MK.
Dlodlo said Zindzi was involved in intricate operations of her MK unit in Gauteng at the time.
“Back in Soweto, her comrades in arms in the Matrosof Unit of Umkhonto we Sizwe, which operated especially around the townships of the then Pretoria, Witwatersrand and Vaal region, recall a brave and industrious activist who never hesitated to carry out the tasks of the people’s movement,” said Dlodlo.
She said Zindzi had shown bravery in the unit’s daring operations.
These were difficult times for South Africa as the apartheid regime was trying to tighten its grip in the burning townships, but Zindzi and the youth fought back hard.
She continued to demonstrate her fearlessness in later in years, and was also vocal about abuse in the country.
Zindzi’s son, Zondwa Mandela, said the family would continue to pursue their mother’s legacy.
“Her work will continue to prosper beyond people’s expectations. She was very diversified, kind, loving and just true to herself. She continued to put people first,” said Zondwa.
At the age of 12 she wrote to the UN, urging it to stop the apartheid regime’s brutal attacks on her mother and herself. She grew up in a political home and a political environment.
UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres also paid tribute to her, saying she was a distinguished diplomat.
Zindzi will also be remembered for reading a letter written by her father, Nelson Mandela, in 1985, rejecting the apartheid government’s conditional release from prison.
The diplomats who worked with her described her as a fearless person who spoke her mind.
Zindzi’s life was intertwined with the politics of the country.
Despite her parents becoming global icons in the Struggle against apartheid, Zindzi never lived in the shadow of her parents.
This was also attested to by the ANC and other parties which said she remained a true fighter for liberation and freedom.
People will remember her for who she was and what she did for the country.
Zindzi was said by her mother, Winnie, to have an enquiring mind and became involved in politics.
Zindzi’s tweet that she had her father’s Codesa files sparked some emotions in the ANC’S “old guard”.
The tweet seemed to suggest that the files would provide the secret details of how the ANC negotiated freedom. Madikizela-mandela was often very vocal that the ANC “came out with too little” at Codesa. Until the end of her life, Zindzi was determined to protect her mother’s legacy.
After a social media storm last year, the government of Denmark sought an audience with Pretoria; headlining the discussion would be Zindzi.
On hearing the news, Zindzi tweeted: “No white person will tell me what to say.”
Her foundation said: “To many, she was a freedom fighter, ambassador, mother. But deep inside, she was still a woman fighting the injustice that happened to her family. Her mother’s story has not been truly told.”