Mandela’s Daughter, Zindzi Dies At 59

Zindzi Mandela, the daughter of South African anti-apartheid figures Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, has died aged 59.

State television, the South African Broadcasting Corporation has reported that Mandela died at a Johannesburg hospital early Monday morning.

At the time of her death, she was South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark.

The Mandelas’ daughter came to prominence in 1985, when the white minority government offered to release Nelson 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.

His letter rejecting this offer was read by his young daughter Zindzi at a packed public meeting and broadcast around the world.

(Associated Press)