JOHANNESBURG: A new book detailing Nelson Mandela’s last days has been withdrawn after it was condemned by his outraged widow, publisher Penguin Random House said on Monday.

The book by Mandela’s physician Vejay Ramlakan was released last week to coincide with the late anti-apartheid leader’s birthday, July 18, which is marked each year as Mandela Day.

It revealed several undignified episodes at the end of Mandela’s life as well as bitter family squabbles over his care and legacy, prompting fury from his widow Graca Machel who threatened legal action.

The company said it had decided “to immediately withdraw the book Mandela’s Last Years from the trade, and no further copies will be issued.” It added that the book “was meant to portray Nelson Mandela’s courage and strength until the very end of his life, and was in no way intended to be disrespectful.”

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2017