ANC’s Jeff Radebe arrived minutes too late to say goodbye to Madikizela-Mandela
He found Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s two daughters and other family members at her bedside
ANC minister Jeff Radebe never thought he would arrive at Johannesburg’s Milpark Netcare Hospital to find Winnie Madikizela-Mandela lifeless. "As much as she was aging, we did not expect her to pass on so soon‚" he told the Sowetan. On Wednesday, Radebe related how a family member had called his wife Bridgette on Monday‚ saying they needed to go to the hospital as soon as possible. They were 10 minutes too late. "We arrived at the hospital at 2.45pm and she had died at 2.35pm. We found her with her two daughters Zenani and Zindzi‚ as well as Makaziwe and other family members," he said. "It was by fate or God that her daughters‚ who are ambassadors‚ were in the country at the time‚ and with her when she took her last breath." Zenani and Zindzi were in London in 2013 when their father‚ Nelson Mandela‚ died surrounded by other family members — including their mother — at his Houghton home in Johannesburg. Radebe said he saw how devastated Zenani and Zindzi were to lose their mother. Ot...
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