HE WAS a sensitive man who was greatly affected by the plight of students following the #FeesMustFall protests.
This was what staff at the University of Cape Town said following the tragic news that health sciences dean Professor Bongani Mayosi had died at the age of 51 on Friday.
Sunday Times yesterday reported his family had released a statement saying Mayosi took his life after battling with depression for two years. The family said a memorial service will be held on Saturday.
Among the scores of people who joined the mourning was President Cyril Ramaphosa, who said on Saturday: “On behalf of government and South Africans‚ we convey our most heartfelt condolences to his family‚ friends, relatives and the health sciences community. May his soul rest in peace.”
Mayosi made a name for himself as one of the world’s top cardiology researchers when he discovered the genetic mutation that causes heart failure.
A member of staff said: “He really cared about students, their problems and suffering. It had a great emotional effect on him.”
University vice-chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng on said she was devastated by the news of Mayosi’s death.
Mayosi’s father, George, was a district surgeon in Mthatha and his mum Nontle was a nurse. As a child, he joined his father to care for the sick in rural areas, which inspired him to become a doctor.
Mayosi earned two medical degrees with distinction at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and worked as an intern at Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth before joining the university in 1992.
He earned a doctoral degree at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom in 2003.
He leaves behind his wife Professor Nonhlanhla Khumalo and two daughters.
– CITY PRESS
