Makgatho Mandela

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Makgatho Lewanika Mandela (June 26, 1950–January 6, 2005) was the son of former South African president and Nobel Prize winner Nelson Mandela and his first wife Evelyn Ntoko Mase. He was an attorney, widowed with four sons. He died of AIDS on 6 January 2005 in Johannesburg.

His second wife, Zondi Mandela, died on 13 July 2003 of pneumonia at age 46.

When Nelson Mandela announced the cause of his son's death, he said: "Let us give publicity to HIV/AIDS and not hide it, because [that is] the only way to make it appear like a normal illness."

Makgatho Mandela is survived by a sister, Makaziwe Mandela. His older brother, Madiba Thembekile Mandela, was killed in a car crash in 1969, shortly after Nelson Mandela began a 27-year prison stay on Robben Island for his anti-apartheid activities.

Many people wrongly believe that he was the older son of Nelson Mandela, but in fact he was about five years younger than his brother, who was nicknamed Thembi by their father.