Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - January 9, 2005
Chris Barron

"'Here is the most revered public figure in the world saying, 'My son has died of Aids'"

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HISTORY may look back at the day Nelson Mandela's son died this week as the day that South Africa finally grew up about Aids.

What happened in the garden of Mandela's home hours after Makgatho's death on Thursday may well prove a watershed event.

Just as a large part of Mandela's life was a long walk to freedom for all of us, so his announcement that his son had died of Aids may come to be seen as a step to freedom of another kind for the country.

Freedom from denial about a disease that is killing us on a massive scale.

Freedom from the pretence that it is not.

Freedom from fear, from the stigma around Aids that has forced so many families to treat the tragedy of it as a shameful secret that they must keep to themselves at all costs.

Freedom from having to bear separately and alone the loss of those we love.

Freedom for our children from the taunts and furtive finger-pointing when they are suspected of having siblings or parents with Aids.

Freedom for those who fear they might be HIV positive to establish the fact instead of trying to hide it, and then to seek help before it is too late.

Mandela is not the first high-profile South African to acknowledge the personal impact of Aids on their lives. Inkatha president Mangosuthu Buthelezi did so when two of his children died. Theatre legend Gibson Kente announced quite openly that he had Aids. Parliamentarian Ruth Bhengu revealed publicly that there was a case of Aids in her family.

But because of the incomparable moral stature Mandela enjoys in all communities and across all political divides, his announcement was of a different order entirely, and its impact is likely to be of a very different order too.

Here is the most revered public figure in the world saying, "My son has died of Aids." And, in effect, that it is nothing to be ashamed of because Aids is a disease like any other that has the capacity to kill. It is not a moral blemish, a punishment from God or a one-way ticket to hell.

It is worth noting that just before he made his announcement Mandela had a short meeting with President Thabo Mbeki, champion of the denialists, who not so long ago said he didn't know anyone who had died of Aids.

A foreign journalist tried to ask Mandela about this. His reply would have been fascinating but just as he was gearing himself up to deliver it, Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu ù daughter of his dear friend Walter Sisulu ù placed a restraining hand on his shoulder and said the question was out of bounds.

Although Mandela has acknowledged that he dodged the issue of Aids for political reasons when he was President, he is certainly no latecomer to the cause. He has been consistently and publicly on the side of those with the virus ù not least in his open support of the Treatment Action Campaign (so frequently reviled by the Health minister) for a good three years now, ever since telling the Sunday Times that a niece and two sons of a nephew had died of the disease.

This has put him on a collision course with Mbeki's government. Harsh words have been exchanged and Mandela has been openly insulted by members of the government because of his uncompromising refusal to toe the denialist line.

To the extent that the government has now acknowledged the reality of Aids and begun rolling out antiretrovirals, Mandela's interventions have been critical.

But what of the man who died this week?

Makgatho Mandela, 54, was the only surviving son from Mandela's first marriage.

His parents' marriage ended in 1955 and, although he saw as much of Mandela as his father's political activities allowed, which was not much, he was brought up by his mother.

After doing his early schooling in Transkei he matriculated at Orlando East High School in Soweto.

He was 10 when his father went underground. He paid fleeting visits to the farm in Rivonia where Mandela was hiding out under the pretence of being the houseboy, and it had to be drummed into young Makgatho's head that his father's name was now David Motsamayi.

He was barely in his teens when Mandela was arrested in 1962. The next time he saw him was on Robben Island in 1968.

Makgatho, accompanied by his grandmother (Mandela's mother), aunt and sister was allowed 45 minutes with his dad.

Soon afterwards, his grandmother died and Makgatho had to send Mandela a telegram breaking the news.

A year later he sent another telegram with the news that his 25-year-old brother, Thembi, Mandela's first son, had been killed in a car accident.

Makgatho worked as a clerk at an insurance company for 15 years.

After his father's release from prison in 1990 he began studying law, and did not attend Mandela's inauguration as President in 1994 because he had to write a law exam in Durban the next day.

He graduated in 1997, did his articles at Johannesburg law firm Webber Wentzel Bowens, and in 2000 began working in the office of Mandela's attorney Ismail Ayob.

He served as company secretary of Diners Club South Africa before joining Standard Bank's legal team.

Makgatho, who looked and sounded a lot like his father, impressed his colleagues as a perfect gentleman, quiet, hard-working and unfailingly polite.

He bore himself with dignity but had no airs or graces and made it clear that he expected no special treatment or favours because he was Mandela's son.

He was a private man who tried not to attract undue attention to himself.

He married his first wife, Rene Mosehla, in 1977. His second wife, Joyce Zondi, died of pneumonia in 2003. He is survived by four sons.

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