She wrote about her addictions to sex, alcohol and drugs,[2] her daughter's death, and her own battles with breast cancer, which killed her in 2023.

Her mother's family, the Mandelas, are direct descendants of King Madiba of the Thembu people and serve as chieftains of Mvezo, their ancestral chiefdom.

She spoke about sexual abuse in her childhood allegedly from Mike Seakamela, Mandla Mandela and AbaThembu king Buyelekhaya Dalinyebo.

[9] In August 2022, Mandela disclosed on social media that she had been diagnosed with cancer in her lungs, liver, ribs, brain, spinal cord and hips.

She was hospitalized in early September 2023 for ongoing treatment for metastatic cancer and family members stated that recent scans have revealed significant disease progression including fibrosis in the lungs and several emboli.

[12][13][14] She was not buried at Fourways Memorial Park in Johannesburg alongside her mother, grandmother and children as she had requested because during the burial, her aunt Zenani Mandela-Dlamini arrived with the South African Police Service to enforce a court interdict to have her late niece buried elsewhere at a gravesite allegedly purchased by her ex-husband, Thierry Bashala which he has denied.