Gugu Zulu’s parents, Peter and Puleng, and his motherin-law, Gomolemo Moshoeu, centre.
Gugu Zulu's father knew that every time his son got into a racing car, he was putting his life on the line.
Gugu Zulu’s parents, Peter and Puleng, and his motherin-law, Gomolemo Moshoeu, centre.
"Motorsport is a very dangerous sport, but I had to be there. I work, but when Gugu was racing, I couldn't function, hence I didn't miss any of his races."
But when his son hugged him before leaving to climb Mount Kilimanjaro last week, it never crossed Peter Zulu's mind that it would be the last time he would see him alive - and that it would be a mountain, rather than a racing car, that would take Gugu's life.
The 38-year-old rally driver died on Monday morning while attempting to climb Kilimanjaro as part of a Trek4Mandela expedition to raise funds for sanitary pads for more than 350,000 impoverished girls. His body was repatriated on Thursday night, accompanied by his wife Letshego. The couple have a one-year-old daughter.
On Sunday night, as most of the Trek4Mandela group made their final summit attempt on Uhuru Peak, an unconscious Zulu was rushed down Kilimanjaro on a makeshift wheelbarrow stretcher.
Letshego and Trek4Mandela founder Richard Mabaso were by his side all the time, updating the family back home.
Letshego's mother, Gomolemo Moshoeu, described how she sent her daughter a prayer, asking her to chant it while they were descending: "Missie, keep saying: 'Lord, even though we walk on this rocky long road, we believe you are guarding, protecting and guiding us. You will give us strength and Gugz will make it to get medical attention. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Amen.'"
Despite having to run 28km down a steep, rocky mountain in the middle of the night, Letshego kept updating her mother on their progress.
"During the approximately eight hours before they got to the gate, we were communicating through SMS. At some stage she called me and said she had fallen twice, the road was rocky, she would not be calling, she would communicate when they got to the gate."
Moshoeu explained how her daughter, Mabaso and the porters who were carrying the stretcher suffered from fatigue as they ran throughout the night to meet the rescue vehicle waiting for them at the gate of the Kilimanjaro National Park.
"We had no clue what the mountain looked like, but we knew it was dark and rocky, hence the prayers to be protected, guided and guarded."
Being a racing driver, I was also Gugu's No1 fan. Wherever he was racing, I was there
Moshoeu said at no point were they expecting the devastating news that Gugu would not survive. "I was expecting that we would be getting positive news.
"I am not too sure about the time [when] Richard called and said, 'Ma, I'm sorry, he did not make it.' I asked: 'Who did not make it?' He said 'Gugu did not make it, please tell his parents.'"
She said her daughter was "devastated" by the loss.
Gugu's uncle and family spokesman, Tseliso Motloheloa, said Gugu's funeral would take place on Thursday at the Rhema Church.
Motloheloa said a postmortem had been conducted in Tanzania, and the family had not decided yet if they wanted another one in South Africa.
Peter and Puleng Zulu said they did not blame anyone for their son's death. They had been excited when Gugu told them he was going to climb Kilimanjaro, and why he was doing it.
"We were very encouraging and we were all excited that they were doing it all together," said Peter. "For us it wasn't the first time we saw them [Gugu and his wife] embarking on a task like that. They did the Cape Epic together. We were very encouraging."
His son was his hero. "Being a racing driver, I was also Gugu's No1 fan. Wherever he was racing, I was there."
The devastated leader of the Trek4Mandela expedition, Sibusiso Vilane, visited Gugu's parents on Thursday with Nelson Mandela Foundation CEO Sello Hatang. "It was a very humbling experience meeting them, and it brought me a bit of peace," he said. "They said to me: 'We don't want this to make you stop what you are doing.'"
Vilane said the Tanzanian authorities did all they could to save Gugu. "I feel so sad and sad to hear people say we should not go to the mountains, and trekking should be stopped. Our trek was helping hundreds of thousands of girls. What Zulu represented and strove for will live on in his legacy."
- Additional reporting by Claire Keeton
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