Late Nelson Mandela’s doctor, a former surgeon general in the South African National Defence Force, has died of a suspected heart attack, ruling African National Congress party spokesperson Pule Mabe said on Friday.
Dr Vejay Ramlakan, aged 62, who penned a book about the statesman he treated in his final days of suffering from a lung disease at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria, died on Thursday, Mabe said.
Mabe said: “Dr Ramlakan was a freedom fighter in his own name and right, who, at the height of repression, served as a member of Umkhonto WeSizwe (the ANC’s armed wing) charged with the responsibility of commanding ‘Operation Butterfly’ — an underground command structure in the greater Durban area.”
According to the party official, “Dr Ramlakan belongs to a coterie of distinguished freedom fighters who sacrificed their personal comfort for the liberation of the rest of South Africa’s people.”
He added: “We salute this outstanding activist of our struggle for liberation. May his family, friends and colleagues find solace in knowing their loss is the nation’s loss.”
The late doctor, who is of Indian descent, wrote a book in 2017 titled “Mandela’s Last Years” which was swiftly withdrawn from bookstore shelves due to the late Mandela family’s accusations that he had breached doctor-patient confidentiality.
Mandela’s widow‚ Graça Machel‚ also threatened to sue Ramlakan for penning the book on his world famous late patient who died in December 2013 following a long illness.
Ramlakan’s family have yet to announce funeral arrangements for the fallen freedom fighter, Mabe said.
NM/as/APA