South Africans were forced to confront the mortality of the former president, Mr Nelson Mandela, yesterday as the news spread that he is suffering from prostate cancer.
Although they were hurriedly assured that the 83-year-old elder statesman is not afflicted by a "high-grade" cancer and that his illness is unlikely to decrease his life span, they knew in their hearts that any form of cancer has the potential to spread and become life-threatening.
They were thus forced to contemplate South Africa without the reassuring presence of Mr Mandela, not as active political leader (he relinquished political office in June 1999) but as an elder statesman available to mediate in times of crisis and ever ready to preach the message of reconciliation.
Mr Mandela's office noted in a statement that medical tests at the end of last year showed a raised level of prostate-specific antigen - a warning of possible prostate gland cancer - in his blood and that a subsequent biopsy confirmed the presence of "microscopic cancer within the prostate".
But, the statement added, Mr Mandela, who celebrated his birthday and the third anniversary of his wedding to Ms Graca Machel on July 18th, would not have to endure either surgery or chemotherapy. Instead he would undergo a seven-week course of radiotherapy which would be "localised to the prostate".
The treatment would be administered once a week for 10 to 15 minutes and should not interfere with his heavy schedule of engagements, which includes raising money for disadvantaged South Africans, acting as mediator and peace-facilitator in the bloody conflict in Burundi and preaching the gospel of goodwill and unity within diversity in South Africa.
A prisoner for 27 years, Mr Mandela is a disciplined man who has lived a healthy life, eating and drinking frugally and exercising regularly. Hence his exceptional stamina for a man of his age. His medical history includes treatment for tuberculosis in prison, the surgical removal of his prostate (the prostate may have been removed because of a benign growth or a previous cancer) and an operation to repair damage to his eyes.
Mr Mandela's spokeswoman, Ms Zelda le Grange, said: "He is very positive . . . We'll leave it to the doctors now."
Mr Mandela is the second black South African of world renown to undergo treatment for prostate cancers in recent years. The first was Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the former chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, who like Mr Mandela is a Nobel Peace laureate.