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Nelson Mandela’s first democratically elected president of South Africa, Zoleka Mandela, passed away at the age of 43 from cancer.
According to a representative, she passed away on Monday night while being surrounded by friends and relatives.
Ms. Mandela has gained notoriety in recent years for disclosing the specifics of her cancer treatment. She was also honest about her past drug use.
Her work was deemed inspirational by the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
It said that she raised “awareness about cancer prevention” as well as “breaking down the stigma surrounding the disease”.
The fact that Ms. Mandela had been sexually abused as a child and her battles with depression were both openly discussed by the former president.
Her 13-year-old daughter was died in a car accident in 2010, which prompted her to advocate for increased road safety. Later, her prematurely born son passed away. Four children remain to carry on her legacy.
In her memoirs, When Hope Whispers, Ms. Mandela—the granddaughter of Nelson Mandela’s second wife Winnie—told her story.
She was 32 years old when she was given a breast cancer diagnosis; she had therapy and entered remission, but the disease eventually came back.
She acknowledged having cancer in her liver and lungs last year, which later spread to other organs. She was receiving outpatient care but was only recently admitted to the hospital.
What do I tell my children? How do I tell them that this time around I may not get to live my life as a survivor? How do I tell them everything will be OK when it’s not? I’m dying… I don’t want to die,” she posted on Instagram early last month.
In an interview with Kaya FM in April, Ms Mandela said: “I’m learning to be okay with my eventuality.”
She was only 10 when her grandfather was released from prison in 1990 after 27 years in detention.
Ms Mandela had only ever known him as an incarcerated man, so when he was released she was just excited he was coming home.
Mr Mandela died in 2013 at the age of 95.
SOURCE:Radiooneghana.com
