Mandela says son died of Aids
2005-01-06 16:05
Special Report
President Jacob Zuma has met with American businessman Bill Gates to discuss issues relating to the country's HIV/Aids pandemic.
Johannesburg - Nelson Mandela's son, Makgatho, died of Aids, the former president told reporters at his residence in Houghton,
Johannesburg, on Thursday.
Surrounded by family members, Mandela said there was no purpose in hiding the illness from which Makgotho had been suffering.
Mandela said he had done the same by telling his fellow
prisoners when he suffered from TB.
Mandela said that talking about such diseases was the only way
to stop people "regarding it as extraordinary and for which people will go to hell and not to heaven".
Mandela stressed that he had not known about his son's suffering when he first lobbied for people to speak about the disease.
Makgatho Mandela, 54, died in a Johannesburg clinic on Thursday.
Makgatho, an attorney, was admitted to Linksfield Hospital
late in November.
Makgatho Mandela was part of Standard Bank's legal team and
worked as a consultant for the group.
He was Mandela's eldest child and only surviving son from his
first marriage to Evelyn Ntoko Mase who died some time ago.
Last year Makgatho Mandela's wife Zondi died of pneumonia.
Makgatho is survived by four sons, Mandla, from his first
marriage, and Ndaba, 21, Mbuso, 13, and Andile, 11, from his
marriage to Zondi.
- SAPA