Mandela’s last moments ‘spent with ex-wife’ Manus starts empty-out
SOUTH AFRICA: A book by Nelson Mandela’s former doctor, detailing his observations of the former South African president’s final days, has been withdrawn by its publisher after drawing anger from the late leader’s family.
Mandela’s Last Years, written by his long-time physician Vejay Ramlakan, discloses intimate details about Mandela’s health and family infighting prior to his death in 2013.
Ramlakan recounts the final moments of the former South African leader, writing that, in addition to himself and the medical team, the only other person at Mandela’s bedside when he died was his former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, not his wife at the time, Graca Machel.
‘‘As a now-still Madiba lay, with his hand in hers, in the soft glow of the beside lamp, all of us experienced a sorrow the depths of which we had not experienced before,’’ he wrote.
The book also includes an account of a close medical call six months before Mandela died, when the engine blew in an ambulance carrying him to a hospital, and how later, after his death, a ‘‘spy camera’’ was found in the mortuary.
Members of the Mandela family objected to the book’s publication, saying it breached doctor-patient confidentiality. Machel called it an ‘‘affront to and an assault on the trust and dignity of my late husband’’ and said she was considering legal action, according to South African media.
The book’s publisher, Penguin Random House South Africa, said it would withdraw the book.
Mandela, who led the country out of apartheid in 1994, died aged 95 after a prolonged illness. At the time, reports swirled that he was on life support and being kept alive for political ends.
Nelson Mandela Foundation spokesman Sello Hatang said the book should not have been published and that the foundation was not involved in its production.
Ramlakan said he had received permission to write the book from the Mandela family but refused to say specifically from whom.
– Reuters AUSTRALIA: Detainees on Manus Island have been threatened with legal action if they refuse to immediately evacuate a compound slated for demolition.
But advocates say it’s doubtful anyone will move voluntarily, with the two neighbouring compounds already overcrowded and a nearby transit centre both dangerous and far too small.
Authorities on Papua New Guinea have warned those in the Foxtrot compound of the Manus Island regional processing centre that water, power and cleaning will be cut off imminently.
Detainees have been told they will be personally liable for any risk associated with entering or residing in Foxtrot once the amenities are cut.
The Manus Island centre will close by the end of October, with decommissioning work well under way and the nearby transit centre being rapidly expanded.
Refugees accepted under a oneoff resettlement deal with the United States are expected to begin leaving Manus Island in October.
But advocates argue US resettlement is entirely speculative. – AAP