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Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Zindzi Mandela

Barack Obama, Zindzi and Zenani Mandela by Unknown Arthur/

Zindziswa “Zindzi” Mandela also known as Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane, was a South African diplomat and poet.

The daughter of anti-apartheid activists and politicians Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Zindzi went on to live with her mother Winnie Madikizela-Mandela who in 1977 was banned by the apartheid government to Brand fort in the Orange Free State Province for eight years.

Zindzi served as deputy president of the Soweto Youth Congress, was a member of the Release Mandela Campaign,

Zindzi has been married twice, she was currently serving as South Africa鈥檚 ambassador to Denmark.

1. Interestingly Zindzi was young when her father was sentenced to life on Robben Island

Zindzi Mandela was eighteen months old when her father was sent to prison and was three when he was sentenced to life on Robben Island.

She was often cared for by her sisters in her youth when her mother was sent to prison for her continued opposition to apartheid.

When her mother was banished to the Orange Free State, one of the previous four provinces of South Africa, Mandela was sent to live there.

At the age of twelve, Mandela wrote to the United Nations, asking for clemency for her parents from the South African authorities.

She completed her education at a boarding school called The Waterford KaMhlaba United World College of Southern Africa in Swaziland and wrote poetry that was published in the book Black as I Am in 1978.

2. The youngest daughter Of Nelson Mandela the amazing Zindzi is a poet

Zindziswa Mandela, the youngest daughter of Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, found her voice as an activist and poet.

Zindzi鈥檚 poems titled 鈥�I Saw as a Child鈥� and 鈥�I Have Tried Hard,鈥� construct the situation of apartheid in the textual society.

Her poetry anthology Black as I Am, published towards the end of the Black Consciousness era, is a window into the life of a child in apartheid and remains painfully relevant today.

It should be understood that the poetry of South Africa covers a broad spectrum of themes, forms, and styles.

Like her contemporaries in the field of protest writing, Zindziswa Mandela also known as Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane did not depart from this temperament.

3. Ms. Mandela became her father鈥檚 emissary and anti-apartheid activist

Mandela then attended the University of Cape Town, earning her Bachelor in Law degree in 1985.

She then became her father鈥檚 emissary and anti-apartheid activist in her own right and was chosen to read his refusal letter to an offer of conditional release in 1985 in Soweto.

As a member of the Release Mandela campaign, Mandela was recruited as an underground operative for the Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress.

Zindzi served as a stand-in First Lady of South Africa between 1996 to 1998, a period when her father was unmarried, and also served as Deputy President of the Soweto Youth Congress.

4. Astonishingly Zindzi was the ambassador to Denmark 

Zindzi was ambassador to Denmark after years as a voice against apartheid alongside her parents, Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Ms. Mandela addressed hundreds of people in Soweto on behalf of her imprisoned father and her banished mother.

A member of the Free Mandela campaign, Ms. Mandela was recruited as an underground operative of Umkhonto we Sizwe.

In her own right, she was a fighter and, if she could, she would have been out in military training, but she had a mother to look after.

5. The remarkable iconic Zindzi will be remembered for the speech she delivered in February 1985

Zindzi Mandela by Unknown Arthur/

The most iconically Zindzi will be remembered for the speech she delivered in February 1985 at Soweto’s Jabulani Stadium.

She also read to the world Madiba鈥檚 rejection of President PW Botha鈥檚 offer to her father of a conditional release from prison.

She will also be remembered for her courageous work in anti-apartheid underground structures, and her public service as South African Ambassador to Denmark.

When her mother Winnie Mandela was banished from Soweto to Brandfort in the Free State, Zindzi, then a teenager, went with her.

6. The famous Jabulani Amphitheatre is where Zindzi read her father鈥檚 message from prison

stadium by Jordan Rowland

Johannesburg Property Company JPC, through its township revitalization Programme, has started the revamp of the iconic Jabulani Amphitheatre.

It was in this stadium, on February 10, 1985, that Nelson Mandela鈥檚 daughter Zindzi read a defiant, smuggled message from her father from Pollsmoor Prison.

This message was read to a roaring audience of thousands of black South Africans who had filled the Amphitheatre, with others crowded outside the walls.

The Jabulani Amphitheatre was built in 1952 by the West Rand Administration Board WRAB as a venue for hosting cultural and sporting events.

7. The amazing African National Congress is a South African political party founded in 1912

African National Congress, South African political party, and black nationalist organization. Founded in 1912.

It began as a nonviolent civil rights organization that worked to promote the interests of Black Africans.

With a mostly middle-class constituency, the ANC stressed constitutional means of change through the use of delegations, petitions, and peaceful protest.

The ANC was long dedicated to the elimination of apartheid. In response to government massacres of demonstrators at Sharpeville and Soweto.

The campaign was largely ineffective because of stringent South African internal security measures, including an official ban on the ANC between 1960 and 1990.

8. Zindzi had interesting moments when she and her sister hoped from one school to another

Zindzi and Zenani Mandela by John Mathew/

They are defining moments in Zindzi鈥檚 life Zindzi, her sister Zenani and their mother Madikizela-Mandela traveled a tumultuous journey of deprivation, being eternal targets of the apartheid state.

Long Walk to Freedom, Zindzi recollected her earliest memory being of her sitting in a vehicle outside a police station as her mother delivered food to a jailed Mandela.

The apartheid regime didn鈥檛 allow Zindzi and her elder sister Zenani to attend school, Zindzi narrated the ordeal of how whichever school her mother enrolled them at.

The head teacher got hounded by state security agents until the school had to let go of the Mandela girls.

9. Ms. Mandela astonishingly was married twice to Zwelibanzi and Molapo and has four children

Mandela was first married to Zwelibanzi Hlongwane in 1982 but later divorced. She married Molapo Motlhajwa in March 2013.

Zindiswa Mandela is survived by her sister Zenani, two half-siblings, Makgatho and Makaziwe, her husband, and her four children, Zoleka, Zondwa, Bambatha, and Zwelabo.

10. The famous Zindzi Mandela died days ahead of Nelson Mandela鈥檚 day 

Zindzi Mandela by Unknown Arthur/

Zindzi’s death came just days ahead of Nelson Mandela Day, on July 18, an annual celebration held on his birthday.

Ms. Mandela played a critical role in symbolizing the humanity and steadfastness of the anti-apartheid struggle.