How Mandela’s son Thembekile died
Mandela, who always played a brother figure for many of his inmates was filled with anguish at not being allowed by the authorities to attend Thembi’s funeral or to have access to details about the fatal crash.
Thembekile “Thembi” Mandela, the eldest son of Nelson Mandela and Evelyn Mase was killed in a car accident while his father was serving life sentence on Robben Island.
Mandela, who always played a brother figure for many of his inmates was filled with anguish at not being allowed by the authorities to attend Thembi’s funeral or to have access to details about the fatal crash.
Thembi died when three cars collided on the fog-bound Touws River road, leaving four people dead and another four injured.
Among the deceased was a middle-aged man and Italian tourist, Mrs Christina Klaasen (59) of Bloemfontein, Miss Irene Similani (35) of Cape Town.
Thembi was only 24 years old when he met his untimely death, leaving behind his wife Molly de Jager and two daughters, Ndileka (four) and one-year-old Nandi.
