Mandela’s Granddaughter, Zoleka is Dead

Zoleka Mandela, granddaughter of South Africa’s first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, has died of cancer at the age of 43, her family has announced.

In a statement on Instagram, a spokesperson said that Zoleka passed away on Monday evening surrounded by friends and family.

In recent years, she had become well known for detailing her cancer treatment and also being open about her history of drug addiction and depression, as well as the fact that she had been sexually abused as a child.

She documented her story in an autobiography ‘When Hope Whispers’.

Just over a decade ago, Zoleka had been diagnosed with breast cancer, she received treatment and was in remission but it later returned.