Zimbabwean journalist found hanged in Johannesburg home

The South African police are investigating the death of Zimbabwean writer and journalist Heidi Holland, whose body was found hanged in the garden of her home in the Johannesburg suburb of Melville on 11 August. "We trust that the South African police will succeed in establishing whether Heidi Holland took her own life or whether she was murdered,” Reporters Without Borders said. Police spokesman Lt. Col. Katlego Mogale said Holland's gardener alerted the police after discovering the body on the morning of 11 August. Nothing had been stolen from her home, she said. Aged 64, Holland was the author of the 2008 book "Dinner with Mugabe," which was based on her interviews with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and people close to him over more than 30 years. It traced his rise to power and transformation from independence hero into authoritarian ruler. A freelance journalist who reported for several newspapers and sometimes wrote columns for the Johannesburg-based The Star, she was also the author of "100 years of struggle: Mandela's ANC" about South Africa's ruling African National Congress. Photo : Heidi Holland (Paballo Thekiso)