{"id":405050,"date":"2017-07-25T10:28:48","date_gmt":"2017-07-25T10:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2017\/07\/25\/mandala-last-days-book-pulled-amid-row\/"},"modified":"2017-07-25T10:28:48","modified_gmt":"2017-07-25T10:28:48","slug":"mandala-last-days-book-pulled-amid-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/07\/25\/mandala-last-days-book-pulled-amid-row\/","title":{"rendered":"Mandala last days book pulled amid row"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/div>\n

A controversial new book about the last days of former South African President Nelson Mandela has been withdrawn by the publisher.<\/p>\n

Mandela\u2019s family had complained that the book, written by his doctor of almost 10 years, contained personal details.<\/p>\n

The publisher said it had pulled the book \u201cout of respect\u201d for the family.<\/p>\n

It added that the author had told them Mr Mandela\u2019s family had asked for the book to be written.<\/p>\n

The author, Dr Vejay Ramlakan, said he had received permission to write the book Mandela\u2019s Last Years, but did not say specifically from whom.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Nelson Mandela\u2019s widow Graca Machel was considering legal action against the book, accusing Dr Ramlakan of breaching patient confidentiality.<\/p>\n

The book is reported to expose \u201cundignified\u201d episodes at the end of his life, as well as family squabbles.<\/p>\n

\"grey<\/p>\n

Setting the record straight<\/h2>\n

Milton Nkosi, BBC South Africa correspondent<\/b><\/p>\n

The withdrawal of the book shows just how much weight the Mandela name still carries years after his demise. Mandela\u2019s widow Graca Machel complained bitterly about aspects in the book. The outcry was supported by other Mandela family members.<\/p>\n

This simply means that Mr Mandela\u2019s physician and author of the book Dr Vejay Ramlakan has been isolated. He was adamant that he consulted everyone who needed to be consulted from the family prior to writing the book. Clearly this has backfired now.<\/p>\n

One of the details according to the book which did not sit well with Mrs Machel was the assertion that when Mr Mandela took his last breath it was in fact Winnie Mandela\u2019s hand he was holding and not hers.<\/p>\n

Sello Hatang, the CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, welcomed the withdrawal and challenged the idea that Mrs Machel was doing some work for the foundation when Mr Mandela was on his death bed.<\/p>\n

It is now left to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to come out to set the record straight on whether some of these most intimate details about South Africa\u2019s first black president, already in the public domain through the book, are true.<\/p>\n

But a statement from Penguin Random House South Africa said it was \u201cmeant to portray Nelson Mandela\u2019s courage and strength until the very end of his life and was in no way intended to be disrespectful\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, given the statements from family members we have decided to withdraw the book.\u201d\"grey\"Dr
Dr Ramlakan was Mandela\u2019s physician for nearly 10 years<\/b><\/p>\n

No further copies of the book are to be issued.<\/p>\n

Billed as the \u201ctrue story of Nelson Mandela\u2019s final journey\u201d, the book was released to coincide with Mandela Day on 18 July. Episodes related by Dr Ramlakan in the book include:<\/p>\n