'Cocaine killed Brenda Fassie'
2004-12-18 07:08
Lizel Steenkamp
Johannesburg - Moments before pop diva Brenda Fassie collapsed in her
brother's arms, she threw a cocaine pipe on to the kitchen floor of her home in Buccleuch.
This tragic scene took place on the morning of April 26, the day Fassie, 39, was admitted to Sunninghill Hospital where she died 13 days later.
The judicial inquiry into Fassie's death was concluded last week in Randburg magistrate's court.
According to the post-mortem on Fassie, her death was caused by the cocaine she had used that morning.
She fell into a coma and stopped breathing. Her heart stopped beating and she had brain damage from a lack of oxygen.
Urine samples taken at the hospital also tested positive.
The finding of the inquiry disproves the claim that Fassie had had an asthma attack.
The post-mortem report said that although Fassie was asthmatic, "no proof has been found that she had
an asthma attack".
A hospital report says that Fassie was not breathing when she arrived at casualty.
- Beeld