(CNN) - Zindzi Mandela, South Africa's ambassador to Denmark and daughter of anti-apartheid icons Nelson and Winnie Mandela, has died, according to the African country's Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
He was 59 years old.
South Africa's Minister of International Relations, Dr. Naledi Pandor, issued a brief statement on Monday morning: "Zindzi will not only be remembered as the daughter of our fighting heroes, Tata Nelson and Mama Winnie Mandela, but as a fighting heroine own right. She served South Africa well. ”
The department said it was still collecting information on the cause of death and that it hopes to publish a detailed statement later.
State broadcaster SABC reported that Mandela died early Monday morning in a Johannesburg hospital.
A spokesperson for the Nelson Mandela Foundation told CNN that it is currently consulting with the Mandela family before issuing its own statement. The foundation previously published that on the same day in 1969, Nelson Mandela's eldest son, Madiba Thembekile Mandela, died in a car accident.
Mandela South Africa
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