JOHANNESBURG: A new book by a former South African military doctor that documents Nelson Mandela’s medical treatments before his 2013 death violates doctor-patient confidentiality, according to some relatives of the anti-apartheid leader and Nobel laureate.

But the retired doctor, Vejay Ramlakan, said in an interview this weekend on the eNCA news channel that the Mandela family had requested that the book be written. While Ramlakan declined to say which family members had given permission for the book, his remarks could indicate continuing rifts in a family whose members have feuded over the years on issues such as inheritance.

The book, Mandela’s Last Years, covers Mandela’s health while he was imprisoned during white minority rule, during his tenure as South Africa’s first black president and in retirement. It also focuses on the dramatic final months of Mandela’s life, when he was suffering a lung infection and other ailments before dying at age 95.

Mandela’s widow, Graca Machel, said she is considering legal action and will consult with the executors of Mandela’s will, South African media reported.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2017