By Seyi Babalola
Former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa is dead, reports from his home country have confirmed. He was aged 81 years.
Mbeki was a South African politician who served as the second president of the country from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress. Before that, he was deputy president under Nelson Mandela from 1994 to 1999, according to Wikipedia.
Mbeki, according to sources, was rushed to the hospital on Tuesday morning during a brief illness, but sadly pronounced dead by the doctors few hours later.
Mbeki’s family said the former president had complained about his heart at dawn before being rushed to the hospital.
“We are in shock. He was full of life last night but this dawn all that he could say was his heart and we rushed him to the hospital but couldn’t make it,” a close family member said.
ANC’s chieftain, Khusela Sangoni, said:”The whole ANC are mourning. He was full of life days ago. He even talked to us about the LGE before we went to the polls. We are in total shock.”
