Ndileka Mandela

Ndileka Mandela (born 22 February 1965) is a social activist, former ICU nurse,^[1] and the head of a rural upliftment organisation the Thembekile Mandela Foundation^[2] in South Africa.

She is the first born of Madiba "Thembi" Thembekile Mandela (1945–1969; Nelson Mandela's first born) who died through car accident while his father was in prison; sister of Nandi Mandela (born 1968) and the eldest grandchild of Nelson Mandela.^[3][4]

In 2017 Mandela became the first member of her family to reject the party of her grandfather, the African National Congress.^[5]

In October 2017, as part of the #MeToo campaign to denounce sexual violence, Mandela disclosed for the first time that she had been raped by her then partner in her own bed, five years before.^[6] She later said she had been following in her grandfather's footsteps, who had disclosed the HIV status of a family member, in order to combat stigma and call for concerted action against sexual violence.^[7]

In response another grandchild of Nelson Mandela, Mandla Mandela, issued a statement praising his cousin and calling on others to follow her example.^[8]

In mid-2018, amid a debate on whether Nelson Mandela had been a "sell out",^[9][10] Ndileka Mandela came out in defence of her grandfather's legacy.^[11]

In 2023, she was co-author with Aaron Friedland, of the children's book The Walking School Bus, which was included among the 41 titles selected for the 2024 USBBY Outstanding International Books List.^[12] In announcing its publication, The New York Times described the story as a "moving tale of two enterprising siblings determined to find a safe way to get to school."^[13]