Radio and television personality Manu Padayachee died in his sleep in the early hours of June 5 in Johannesburg.
His girlfriend Feroza Kathrada said Padayachee, who had been receiving treatment for an upper respiratory tract infection, died in his sleep shortly before 4am.
”He died peacefully this morning. He had been ill and on Sunday he was told that he had an upper respiratory tract infection for which he had been taking heavy medication,” she said.
Padayachee had been receiving treatment from the Milpark hospital.
Kathrada said friends and family of Padayachee (52) had gathered at his home in Parkhurst.
”His friends and family have gathered at his home. At the moment we are waiting for a doctor to come [and] determine what caused his death,” said Kathrada.
Padayachee was working at the South African Press Association (Sapa) as a sub-editor in the sports department.
Sapa sports editor Chris Swanepoel said: ”I did not know him that well … he had only worked at Sapa for a while, but he was a very likeable man.”
Padayachee had previously worked for M-Net, 702 and Al-Jazeera.
Padayachee’s body will be cremated on Wednesday afternoon.
”I can confirm that he will be cremated on Wednesday. We are waiting for his sister to arrive from Amsterdam,” said Kathrada. – Sapa