JOHANNESBURG – Zoleka Mandela, a cancer activist, author, and the daughter of anti-apartheid icons was laid to rest at Fourways Memorial Park in Johannesburg on Friday.
The 43-year-old lost her fight with cancer on Monday. Her death fell just one day before her grandmother, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s birthday, who would have turned 87 this year.
Mourners gathered at the Bryanston Methodist Church where her private funeral was held on Friday morning.
Mourners paid their last respects to Zoleka Mandela, whose body lay in a white coffin draped with an elegant, billowing floral arrangement filled with white roses.
Her casket was ushered by her four children.
The first deputy secretary-general of the ANC, Nomvula Mokonyane, said she inspired others who were battling cancer, particularly women.
“She made all of us live in hope even at a time when you are in the worst of your health. She inspired hope and courage.”
In several moving social media posts, Mandela shared her story, hoping to leave a lasting living record of her cancer journey for her children and family.