SA leader lauds Zindzi Mandela's Covid-19 disclosure

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has thanked the Mandela family for disclosing that Zindzi Mandela, the youngest daughter of anti-apartheid icons Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, had tested positive for Covid-19. 

He said the disclosure was important to show that there should not be stigma for those who become infected with the virus. 

In his tribute during a virtual memorial service on Thursday, Mr Ramaphosa said the gesture by the family was "final act of solidarity in the life of a woman who devoted her life to the cause of her fellow South Africans".

"In doing so you are helping to encourage social acceptance for [Covid-19] sufferers," he added.

The president also tweeted his thanks.

Zindzi Mandela died in a Johannesburg hospital on Monday.

Her son, Zondwa Mandela, later revealed that she had tested positive for Covid-19 on the day she died, though it was not clear if the disease caused the death.

Ms Mandela is being buried on Friday next to her mother at the Fourways Memorial Park in Johannesburg.

She grew up at the height of the anti-apartheid struggle. With her father imprisoned on Robben Island, she endured years of harassment and intimidation by the apartheid regime, along with her sister Zenani, and her mother Winnie, says the BBC's Vumani Mkhize.

Zindzi Mandela was the family member who read out Nelson Mandela's rejection of then-president PW Botha's offer for conditional release from prison at a public meeting in February 1985.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

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