Eastern Cape - Former president Nelson Mandela's cousin and childhood playmate Sitsheketshe Morris Mandela has died, the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory said on Thursday.
“... (He) passed away this morning,” spokesman Sello Hatang said in a statement.
“Trustees and staff send our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”
Sitsheketshe's mother and Mandela's mother were sisters.
Sitsheketshe's mother died at childbirth and he grew up with Mandela in the same household. He is commonly referred to as Nelson Mandela’s brother.
Sitsheketshe, who is reportedly 80, recalled his childhood with Mandela in Qunu, in the Eastern Cape, in Anna Trapido's book “Hunger for Freedom: The Story of Food in the life of Nelson Mandela”.
“We boys had everything we needed from the cattle and fields,” he was quoted as saying.
“I was younger than him (Mandela) so (he) used to send me out to collect the cattle and then he used to milk the cattle himself, and also take corn and grind it with a stone and we would eat it with amasi (sour milk).”
Sitsheketshe continued: “We seldom bought anything edible but we lacked for nothing.”
Details of Sitsheketshe's burial were yet to be announced.
The ANC Youth League sent its condolences to the Mandela family.
“The ANCYL is deeply saddened by the loss in a family that holds substantial wisdom and history of the ANC, and has made such a vast contribution to the landscape of struggle and political freedom,” it said in a statement.
“Tata Morris Mandela has held the fort for the family in Qunu, especially during the difficult times of Madiba's ill health among other family matters, of which he has remained central.” - Sapa