Pretoria - Gugu Zulu, one of the climbers of the Trek4Mandela, lost his life while summiting Mount Kilimanjaro on Monday morning.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation has conveyed its condolences to his wife Letshego Zulu, their daughter Lelethu and his family.
“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,” the foundation said in a statement on Monday.
According to the foundation, Gugu was climbing Kilimanjaro with his wife Letshego.
They both descended the mountain together with Richard Mabaso, the project leader and the medical teams.
The team was led by experienced mountaineer, Sibusiso Vilane.
“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,” CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation Sello Hatang said.
The climbers were due to summit Kilimanjaro on Monday for Mandela Day. –SAnews.gov.za
