Fearless Struggle leader in own right
■ Zindzi dies days before her father’s birthday ■ Tributes flood in from across the political divide
A FEARLESS Struggle icon who should not be celebrated purely because of her renowned Mandela name, but for being a brave leader and people’s servant in her own right.
This was the overwhelming message to an avalanche of tributes which flooded in yesterday after news of the death of Zindzi Mandela, who would have turned 60 in December.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said the freedom fighter’s death five days before her father’s birthday “compounded the sadness of the loss”.
“Zindzi Mandela was a household name nationally and internationally, who during our years of Struggle brought home the inhumanity of the apartheid system and the unshakeable resolve of our fight for freedom,” Ramaphosa said.
As her life was being celebrated, the president revealed that Mandela was designated to take up a new diplomatic posting in Liberia, as he recounted how she spent many years involved in the liberation Struggle and embraced roles in the arts, philanthropy and business.
“I offer my deep condolences to the Mandela family as we mourn the passing of a fearless political activist who was a leader in her own right,” he said.
The Harry Gwala Foundation, which bears the name of one of the ANC’s most revered revolutionary leaders, echoed the sentiments saying that Zindzi was not just the daughter of Struggle stalwarts Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, “but she was a courageous activist in her own right”.
The foundation and its chairperson, Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi, lauded what it said was the Denmark ambassador’s contribution to South Africa’s liberation from her days as the deputy president of the Soweto Youth Congress.
“Comrade Zindzi was a freedom fighter who dedicated her entire life to the Struggle for liberation and democracy in South Africa. Her name occupies a special place in the galaxy of stars that fought relentlessly for a free, democratic and non-racial South Africa,” the foundation said yesterday.
The Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) said it was still collecting information regarding the cause of her death at a Joburg hospital.
Dirco added that it would make public the cause of death “at a later stage”.
Minister Naledi Pandor echoed Zindzi’s Struggle credentials, saying: “Zindzi will not only be remembered as a daughter of our Struggle heroes, Tata Nelson and Mama Winnie Mandela, but as a struggle heroine in her own right. She served South Africa well.”
In a video tribute, ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe recalled the renowned February 1985 speech in Soweto, where Zindzi read out her father’s letter to a packed arena rejecting apartheid president PW Botha’s conditional release of her father.
Mabe called Zindzi “one of the most revered and outspoken ambassadors”, recalling her public stance in June last year supporting land expropriation and rebuking “apartheid apologists”.
“Ambassador Zindzi expressed her views without fear or favour, and (was) a leader in her own right. The whole country and the entire democratic movement have lost a dedicated and loyal servant,” Mabe enthused.
In a moving tribute by the EFF, which openly supported Zindzi’s stance on expropriation of land without compensation, the party hailed her even when she was the ambassador to Denmark, where she had served from 2015.
“In this role, she never lied about who we are, what we stand for and what we desire as a country,” it said.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation remembered Madiba’s daughter as someone with a rich and extraordinary life, marked by many iconic moments. It recalled the years she spent banished with her mother to Brandfort in Free State.
It recalled “that summer’s day in February 1985 at Jabulani Stadium when she read to the world Madiba’s rejection of president Botha’s offer of a conditional release from prison. (And) her own courageous work in underground structures, public service as South African Ambassador to Denmark.”
The foundation added that Madiba’s personal archive speaks to this strength, as well as to the nature of her relationship with her father.
Also mourning the passing was the founder of the IFP, Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi who said the death came “as a terrible shock”. Buthelezi added that it was difficult to believe that someone so full of life and energy was no longer with us.
“I have seldom met anyone with such tenacity of spirit. Zindziswa endured tremendous heartache in her childhood, being separated from her father and often also from her mother. Yet she grew up to have a fierce love of country, where she could so easily have harboured hatred,” Buthelezi said, lamenting that due to Covid-19, the country will not be able to properly mourn her.
General Bantu Holomisa, leader of the United Democratic Movement and a longtime confidant of Nelson Mandela, said the death came as a shock as Zindzi was not that old.
“We expected her to be part of those who were going to be working towards building this country,” Holomisa said.
Kallie Kriel, chief executive of lobby group AfriForum, which was vociferous in its rejection of Zindzi’s stance on expropriation without compensation, also sent his condolences.
“Even though AfriForum strongly disagreed with Ms Mandela, I send my condolences to Ms Mandela’s family.
“I strongly believe that the death of a person should be out of respect for that person’s family and not be used for political purposes. AfriForum will thus not use her death to get involved in a political debate,” Kriel told The Star.
Details of Zindzi’s funeral have not been released. She had four children.
Zindzi Mandela was a household name nationally and internationally Cyril Ramaphosa
PRESIDENT