The funeral service of Zindzi Mandela, the daughter of struggle icons Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela Mandela, is underway at the Fourways Memorial Park in Johannesburg.
The family has requested a private service and media were not allowed to get into the chapel where the service is currently being held.
Zindzi’s coffin, draped in a pink blanket, was carried to the chapel under strict COVID-19 regulations.
On Wednesday, Zindzi’s son, Zondwa, revealed to the SABC that her mother, 59, had tested positive for coronavirus.
Senior politicians in attendance included Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, EFF leader Julius Malema and the red berets senior leader Dali Mpofu.
The late Ambassador to Denmark will be laid to rest next to her mother.
Tommorow is her father’s birthday and the Nelson Mandela lecture will this year be delivered by the United Nations general secretary Antonio Guterres.
Yesterday, President Cyril Ramaphosa thanked the Mandela family for sharing with the nation that she had tested positive for coronavirus when she died at a Johannesburg hospital on Monday morning.
“This gesture is a final act of solidarity in the life of a woman who devoted her life to the cause of her fellow South Africans,” he said.
Ramaphosa, speaking during a virtual memorial service of the late Ambassador, said Zindzi was a devoted activist, a patriot and a fearless freedom fighter whose life was committed to the liberation of the country.
This is a developing story
