A little more than a year since he fulfilled his dream of reading the news on DJ Fresh's show, Mahlatsi Sethemane has lost his fight against cancer.
|||Johannesburg - “Where do you get your positive attitude from?”
“I don’t know. I just grewup with it. I guess I was born with it!”
This was the exchange between 5FM’s DJ Fresh and terminally ill 15-year-old Mahlatsi Sethemane, which captured the hearts of thousands of listeners countrywide in February 2015.
But a little more than a year since he fulfilled his dream of reading the news on the radio, Mahlatsi lost his fight against the aggressive cancer that had ravaged his young body.
On February 27 last year Mahlatsi was brought into the 5FM studios to read the news on his favourite DJ’s morning show - thanks to the Reach for a Dream Foundation.
The excitement was evident in his voice, and when offered the chance to run the show for the morning, he giggled and immediately agreed. It was a difficult news agenda that day, with service delivery protests in Thembelihle, submissions for the National Road Traffic Act and a pledge against xenophobia by a government minister.
Mahlatsi powered through, still sounding confident as he finished the lengthy bulletin and weather report.
But after finishing, you could tell he was emotional, seemingly overwhelmed by having accomplished his dream.
When DJ Fresh, whose real name is Thato Sikwane, asked if the teenager was okay, there was a slight quiver in his voice. “I was a bit nervous,” he said.
The radio station, in particular DJ Fresh’s team, chose to adopt Mahlatsi as “a little brother”, and over the past year ensured that he received the food and clothes he needed during his prolonged battle with Burkitt’s lymphoma, a highly aggressive form of cancer.
Every few weeks, he would send the team voice notes, describing his progress at school and updates on his health. But a little over a month ago, Mahlatsi had to be readmitted to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, where his family were told his prognosis was dire.
DJ Fresh told The Star he and the team were informed, they went to visit him in hospital. “He was in good spirits, he removed his oxygen mask and wanted to talk to us,” said the DJ.
But having just turned 16 in mid-January, Mahlatsi asked when the team would throw him a birthday bash. DJ Fresh said the team were already planning his party, and were devastated to hear the news of Mahlatsi’s death on Wednesday.
The DJ said he was grateful that they weren’t informed during their show, as it would have made it difficult to continue. By Thursday morning, when they announced Mahlatsi’s passing during the show, the team had had some time to process the news.
“He was such a happy-go-lucky, zest-for-life kind of kid. He was quite an achiever (at school), despite what he was going through (during treatment),” said DJ Fresh.
The branch manager for the Reach for a Dream Foundation in Joburg, Melissa Green, had worked with him since he expressed his wish to be on the radio. “He had a love for life. We all talk about his infectious laughter,” she said.
The foundation wrote on its Facebook wall: “You were such a brave fighter who inspired so many of us with your positive attitude and love for life, in spite of all you faced. We hope you are looking from above to see how much you are loved.”
Numerous tweets using the hashtag #RIPMahlatsi were posted on Thursday by listeners who remembered the young newsreader.
shain.germaner@inl.co.za
The Star