Posted on 01/06/2005 6:38:07 AM PST by COUNTrecount
Mandela announces son died of AIDS 01-06-2005, 14h06
Nicolas Asfouri - (AFP/Pool/File) JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Former South African president Nelson Mandela said Thursday that his son Makgatho had died of AIDS.
"We have called you today to announce that my son has died of AIDS," Mandela told reporters gathered Thursday at his Johannesburg home just hours after his only surviving son passed away.
Makgatho Mandela, 54, had been in intensive care for the past weeks, but no details were released about his condition.
Well...It's a shame.
More info............
Nelson Mandela's only son dies of AIDS
By Jenny Booth, Times Online
Nelson Mandela's only surviving son has died in hospital in South Africa after a battle with AIDS.
Makgatho Mandela, 54, was admitted to Linksfield Park clinic in Johannesburg late last year in a critical condition. His father, the former South Africa president, has cancelled several engagements in the past month to stay close to his ailing son.
The death is expected to come as a huge blow to the 86-year-old statesman, who has suffered a string of personal losses.
Mr Mandela's other son, Madiba Thembekile, was killed in a car crash in 1969 while the future president was serving 27 years in prison for trying to end white rule in South Africa. The apartheid government banned him from attending the funeral.
Mr Mandela wrote of Madiba's death in his book, Long Walk to Freedom: "What can one say about such a tragedy? I do not have words to express the sorrow, or the loss I felt. It left a hole in my heart that can never be filled."
In May 2003, Mr Mandela led South Africa in mourning for his African National Congress comrade Walter Sisulu, whose death at the age of 90 left Mr Mandela virtually isolated as the last of his generation of freedom fighters turned politicians.
In July Makgatho's wife, Zondi, died of pneumonia. In a further bereavement in the same year, the statesman attended the funeral of his first wife, Evelyn Mase, the mother of Makgatho and Madiba, and of two daughters - one of whom died in 1948 before she was a year old.
Recently Mr Mandela has looked frail in his public appearances. Officially he retired from public life last year, but has kept up a busy schedule promoting his various causes, including the fight against Africa's devastating Aids epidemic. More than 10 per cent of South Africans have the virus.
The Mandela family refused to reveal the cause of Makgatho's illness, saying it was a private matter. The fact that he had been suffering from AIDS was revealed at a press conference this afternoon.
Makgatho Mandela was born on June 26, 1950. A lawyer with a background in insurance, he kept a low profile compared to his famous father. He married twice and had three sons.
Mr Mandela divorced Evelyn Mase in 1955. He has two daughters from his marriage to Winnie Madikezela-Mandela. After their divorce, he married late in life to Grace Machel.
Anyone who doesn't recognize the horrifying nature of this pandemic is nuts.
A sad day. I don't care for Mandela, but it took courage and love for him to announce that. He's seen a life of sadness and I'm sorry that he is suffering this now.
It is sad. I don't agree with Mr. Mandela often, but a parent should never have to suffer the loss of a child. He has had plenty of pain. Prayers up for him and may God comfort him in his loss.
Lie down with dogs, get up with a hidious wasting disease that destroys you, your family, and leaves a hole in the memories of everyone who cares about you.
Seriously, it could have been contaminated blood. Why not release the information? I mean, does this guy have Arafat's doctor? What's the big secret? Is that an elephant in your living room, Mr. Mandela?
I wonder if his mom Winnie will cremate him by draping a burning tire around his neck?
A sad day. I don't care for Mandela, but it took courage and love for him to announce that. He's seen a life of sadness and I'm sorry that he is suffering this now.
You don't think that necklacing causes sadness?
Mandella's government dragged it's feet for years in the treatment of rape victims for aids.
She might be in the same boat...shortly.
That poor guy. Mandela may be a lefty but he's one I respect.
Winnie is not the mom.
Brutally insightful. I like it.
..........Evelyn Mase, the mother of Makgatho and Madiba, and of two daughters - one of whom died in 1948 before she was a year old.
Maybe I have compasion fatigue, but it's kind of hard to feel sorry for someone dumb enough to become an AIDS Monkey in this day and age. His parents are monsters so it's difficult to feel for them as well.
Owl_Eagle
"You know, I'm going to start thanking
the woman who cleans the restroom in
the building I work in. I'm going to start
thinking of her as a human being"
I stand corrected.
I respect what he's been through as well but he's more then a lefty. He's a full fledged communist.
dat's an amusing hillary quote!
god! what the clintons say and they get by with it.
she just admitted that she used to not think of janitors as human beings.
It sounds as if the wife may have died of it as well. Very sad.
It's a different world over there with so much of the population having it and the medical establishment being far less advanced than the western world. In reality there could be a number of ways he could have contracted it so it's unfair to blame the victim of the disease.
If he had died because someone in the Inkatha party whacked him then I would feel a bit different.
And I and the rest of the sane world should care because...?
she just admitted that she used to not think of janitors as human beings.
Well, if that isn't looking at the glass as half full. She said she's going to try to stop it, give her some credit! (Wonder how it worked out for her...)
Owl_Eagle
"You know, I'm going to start thanking
the woman who cleans the restroom in
the building I work in. I'm going to start
thinking of her as a human being"
It's Bush's fault...
Maybe Mandela should blame Bush's "racism" again
Regardless, he doesn't know squat about economics.
I think a careful reading of the article at Post #3 would suggest Makgatho's mother was Evelyn Mase.
Bad crack?
See post 17.
What a creep Mandela is.
All he had to do was have sex to a virgin, and everything would have been ok.
World Birth/Death Rates (2003 est.)
Per year..born 127.6 million deaths 56.7 million
Per day...born 349,542 deaths 155,399
God help him. Burying your children is the hardest thing one can do.
It took courage for Mandela to announce the cause of his son's death. I feel sorry for anyone who has to bury a child. God Bless him.
When will Yasser come out clean ?
Bless him.
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