Former first lady Graça Machel has threatened to sue Durban-born doctor Vejay Ramlakan for publishing a tell-all book on Nelson Mandela’s last days.
Machel lashed out at Ramlakan this week, claiming he breached “patient doctor confidentiality”. Ramlakan headed a team of health professionals who looked after Mandela.
In his book, Ramlakan sets the record straight about the final years of Mandela’s life.
Written as the head of Mandela’s medical team, the military doctor who witnessed first-hand what Madiba was experiencing documents the complex medical challenges, the interaction between family and staff, the constant scrutiny from the press, and the actions and responses of Mandela himself.
Publisher Penguin Random House South Africa said Ramlakan told them he had received permission from Mandela’s family to publish.
The publisher said the book was written with respect and with the support of family members.
“This book completes the story of Nelson Mandela. It reveals a man who showed immense courage, not only when he fought for the freedom of millions of people, but until the very end of his own life,” the publishers said.
Ramlakan joined Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1977 and underwent military training in South Africa and in Swaziland.
He studied medicine at the University of Natal and served as president of the Medical Students Representative Council. He was a founding member of the United Democratic Front, and was involved in MK’s Operation Butterfly in Natal in 1985.
Ramlakan was imprisoned on Robben Island, and after his release, served as medical commander at the 1991 ANC National Conference, at Codesa, and for the President Mandela Guard. He served as South Africa’s surgeon general, and in 2011 he was appointed as chief of corporate staff in the SANDF. He retired from the military in 2015.
Yesterday, the Department of Defence (DOD) distanced itself from the book.
“The DOD wishes to explicitly state that all views expressed in the book are those of the author and do not in any way or manner represent the DOD and the SA Military Health Service.
“The SANDF’s policy on patient-doctor confidentiality is in force and as such, the views and patient-doctor engagements expressed in the book have not been sanctioned by us,” said spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini.
Ramlakan was not available for comment.