Private funeral for Zenani Mandela

Published Jun 14, 2010

Share

The funeral of Nelson Mandela's great-granddaughter, Zenani, will take place on Thursday at the chapel of her school, St Stithians College, in Sandton, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said on Monday.

While the funeral would not be open to the public, South Africans were welcome to send their condolences to the Mandela family via email, said foundation spokesperson Sello Hatang.

"We appreciate that South Africans and visitors to the country would all like to be there, but due to space constraints, we ask that they please send their condolences to [email protected]," he said.

"We will certainly make sure that the family receives them."

Zenani Zanethemba Nomasonto Mandela, 13, died in a car crash after the World Cup opening concert in Soweto on Thursday night.

She is the granddaughter of Zindzi Mandela, who is the daughter of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

The driver of the car was Sizwe Mankazana, who is the 23-year-old son of Zindzi's partner.

Mankazana was initially arrested and charged with drunk driving and culpable homicide, but his case was struck off the roll on Friday pending "further investigation".

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said that Mankazana would appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on July 26, two weeks after the World Cup had ended.

NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga declined to comment on claims that Mankazana was getting special treatment because he was part of the Mandela family.

He also denied that Mankazana's case had been delayed to manage media coverage by letting him appear after the World Cup had ended on July 11, when most foreign journalists had already left the country.

"Whatever decisions we take, they are above board," said Mhaga. - Sapa

Related Topics: