DURBAN: A YEAR after the death of kwaito musician Mandoza, his widow Mpho Tshabalala will launch the Mandoza Foundation aimed at assisting cancer patients with meals and shelter while they are getting treatment.
The foundation will be launched on Monday at the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg in the oncology ward where Mandoza was treated before his death.
September 18 is also Tshabalala’s birthday, and she told the Sunday Tribune that she would rather use the time to reach out to others instead of crying at home, thinking about the day she lost the love of her life.
“I said I need to go out there and make a change in other people’s lives. I thought ‘let me commemorate this day by giving back to the community’.
“The Charlotte Maxeke Hospital became my second home when Mandoza was admitted there, I was there on a daily basis,” said Tshabalala.
The foundation is aimed at giving underprivileged cancer patients hope and assisting them with the daily difficulties that Tshabalala witnessed during Mandoza’s hospitalisation.
“I saw my husband battle this disease, and I was also exposed to other patients who were diagnosed with cancer, so I know the struggle and difficulties they go through.
“My husband found out when he was already on stage three. I remember I used to wonder how he would have been if he had found out earlier.
“I don’t wish for other people to go through what my husband went through. Those who are already diagnosed, I wish to assist them with their needs where I can,” said Tshabalala.
The foundation will work in partnership with the Cancer Association of South Africa.
“The foundation will assist cancer sufferers by providing them with meals and shelter, especially those who come from outside Johannesburg,” she said.
“We will also be actively promoting campaigns on early detection testing in our communities. We will have educational programmes about cancer.”
Tshabalala said it had not been an easy journey since the death of Mandoza, but the family was coping through the support of family and prayer.
“We are coping through God; I lost a partner and a friend, so it’s been a difficult year. I have become a single parent.
“It’s the first time I am raising kids on my own. I come home and he is not there. It has not been easy but we are coping,” she said.