Johannesburg - SA racing driver and television personality Gugu Zulu has died on the Trek4Mandela hike up Mount Kilimanjaro.
On Monday morning, Director of Communications at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Neeran Naidoo, revealed the tragic death.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce that one of the climbers on the Trek4Mandela, Gugu Zulu, lost his life while summiting Kilimanjaro early this morning before summiting,” wrote Naidoo.
“Details are sketchy. What we do know is that Gugu experienced problems breathing. The medical team supporting the trek put him on a drip and they descended the mountain with him. We are informed that the medical teams tried everything possible to save his life,” he added.
Zulu had been climbing with his wife, Letshego.
According to the foundation, the team had been led by experienced mountaineer, Sibusiso Vilane.
Sello Hatang, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation said: “I am devastated. I knew him well. I recruited him to climb Kilimanjaro. The last thing he said to me at the airport before he left last week was that he wanted to speak about doing other Mandela Day projects. I feel a huge sense of loss.”
In his final Facebook post on July 16, Zulu wrote: “Made it though (stet) day2. My wife is doing fabulous, she has even learnt the local language. Am having flu like symptoms and struggling with the mountain but taking it step by step!! Today we managed to see our destination and our camp is literary above the clouds!!”
Soweto-born Gugu has a long and illustrious motorsport career and is known as one of South Africa’s finest rally drivers, having driven for the Volkswagen works team.
He was about to embark on a new challenge as a driver in the upcoming GTC track series.
Gugu was a petrol-head in every sense of the word and also featured as a presenter for the motoring show Car Torque, among many other adventures.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation has promised to share more information once they have further details from Tanzania.
The climbers were due to summit Kilimanjaro on Monday, for Mandela Day.
The Star