Zokela Mandela remembered as a shining star

A memorial service was held on Thursday in Soweto.

The 43-year-old died earlier this week after a long battle with cancer that had metastasised to her lungs, spine and other organs.

She was the granddaughter of the late struggle heroes Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Zoleka Mandela gave birth to six children. She’s survived by only four after losing her daughter Zenani, who was in a car crash in 2010, and baby Zenawe, who didn’t make it past two days due to premature birth.

She shared publicly her struggle with cocaine addiction and later the double blow and triumphs over being diagnosed with breast cancer twice - until she announced in 2022 that the disease had spread to other parts of her body. She had just given birth to her youngest child months earlier

Mandela was first diagnosed with cancer in 2012, at the age of 32, and again in 2016.

All the while doing advocacy work to raise awareness around cancer and substance abuse - including writing her book ‘When Hope Whispers’ aimed at inspiring people who had been through tough times.

Her friend, Janine Wool, described her as a strong fighter.

"She never stopped fighting; her persistence was so amazing. She was such an easy person who could be friends with anyone, and she never saw any bad in a person, only the good. The two of us just clicked from day one. We always laugh together at the most impossible times.”

Another friend, Thatohatsi Motsaone, said she was a shy person who kept most of her struggles private.

"She was extremely shy and very private. Some of the stuff we see on social media are the things she was happy to share. But a lot of her struggles, the fights, she kept private. She was like an ice bag; people only saw the tip of it.”

Former minister Lindiwe Sisulu described Zoleka as simply a beautiful person.

"Zokela is a shining star in the way that she went through all that pain, knowing very well that she's got young children that she's got to leave behind. She was her own person, very strong, and it shows in the way she carried the disease in the end. She is almost a combination of both her grandmother and grandfather in one.”

She will be laid to rest at the Fourways Memorial Park on Friday.

A private funeral will take place at the Bryanston Methodist Church in Johannesburg.