By Victor Enengedi
A University Professor in South Africa has shocked the country by saying he wishes former South African President, Nelson Mandela could die.
According to South African media Sowetan Live, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State, Jonathan Jansen was quoted while addressing a group of about 250 students gathered on the campus for a leadership summit when he asked the students, ‘Don’t you also wish he (Mandela) would die?’
Reports that have been circulating show that the students were noticeably shocked when they heard the question.
‘Every time we hear he’s in hospital, everyone thinks, this is it, he’s going to die this time. Big Mac (Mac Maharaj, presidential spokesperson) is lying when he says Madiba is in for check-ups. When you are 94, you go to hospital to die; not for routine tests,’ Jansen said.
Jansen has since denied his comments stating he did not mean it in the manner that it has been depicted.
‘I truly wish Madiba would live forever. I also wish some journalists would have more ethics before completely distorting a message,’ he later tweeted.
Jansen’s comment has generated a lot of reactions from South Africans as Jansen’s spokesperson, Lacea Loader, has stated that Jansen meant to say that former president Nelson Mandela should be left to die in peace.
The 94-year old South African nationalist has been in and out of hospital in the last few months, causing a growing national concern for his state of health.