EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AND PHOTOS
NELSON MANDELA’S GRANDDAUGHTER
ON HOW SHE IS KEEPING HIS INSPIRING LEGACY ALIVE AS SHE MARKS TEN YEARS SINCE HIS DEATH
It wasn’t until she was eight years old that Tukwini Mandela met her grandfather Nelson for the first time. The anti-apartheid activist, who became South Africa’s first black President, was in prison throughout her childhood, cut off from family life as he spent 27 years behind bars.
Last week marked the tenth anniversary of his death and Tukwini, who is one of his 18 grandchildren, could reflect on the special bond she had with one of the world’s most cherished political leaders.
Nelson’s state funeral on 15 December 2013, ten days after his death at 95, witnessed an outpouring of emotion as almost 4,500 people, including heads of state, foreign dignitaries and royals from around the globe, converged on his childhood village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape province, where he was laid to rest.
TIME FOR THE FAMILY
In our exclusive interview for the anniversary, Tukwini tells hello! that Nelson’s family and those closest to him had to share their private grief in a very public way.
“This is a private day for my family because when my grandfather passed, we didn’t have a moment of rest,” she says. “There was such a heavy focus on the family, with interview after interview. And while we appreciated the fact that the world was in mourning with us, we wanted a little bit of space. So this is like a day to ourselves to mourn him.
“I miss my grandfather for his life lessons and beautiful stories about what it was like growing up in the Eastern Cape and coming to Jo’burg [ Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city] for the first time, meeting white people for the first time,” she adds.
“And I miss having him around the lunch table, telling us funny stories and engaging with us away from the limelight.”
‘I miss my grandfather for his life lessons and I miss having him around the lunch table, telling us funny stories’
Tukwini, 48, is the eldest child of Dr Makaziwe Mandela, the only living child from Nelson’s first marriage, to Evelyn Mase.
Maki, as she is known, was estranged from her father for many years, although they were eventually reconciled. She also had a difficult relationship with her
