WATCH | 'He fought this illness with courage and fortitude': Redi Tlhabi's heartfelt tribute to Eusebius McKaiser

Veteran radio personality Redi Tlhabi has paid tribute to her friend and political analyst Eusebius McKaiser, saying he fought his illness with courage.

McKaiser died last week after suffering a suspected epileptic seizure. His manager Jackie Strydom told TimesLIVE he was going about his day without any hint of illness.

Mourners gathered at The Empire Venue in Parktown, Johannesburg, on Tuesday to remember the late broadcaster and author.

A teary Tlhabi said she was experiencing unspeakable grief and found healing through some of McKaiser's friends.

“I am completely unmoored by Eusebius' passing. We've all lost people. It's not the first time that we have gathered at events like this, but it hits differently and it is one of those moments where I wake up in the middle of the night and think, 'What am I going to do?'

“But I know I'm not the only one. And I know that in the front row what I feel is magnified and felt 100 times as much,” she said.

“Eusebius was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2008. When we say he died suddenly, there is a context and that means he was fine that morning. He was going about his business and working.”

Tlhabi said McKaiser did not share moments of his hospitalisation with the public because he wanted to be treated as an equal.

“Nduduzo [McKaiser's partner] stepped up to the plate and handled it all with so much grace and generosity. Eusebius, too, was heroic in those moments. Just because he did not tweet about being in the hospital, it doesn't mean it did not happen.

“Eusebius fought this illness with courage and fortitude but he kept it away from the public because he wanted to be treated as an equal. For people to come to him and engage him without feeling sorry for him. None of us thought there would that one moment where his epilepsy would become fatal.”

She said McKaiser was always there for her.

“Eubi, go well my brother, my friend, gossiper-in-chief. The one who opened his big arms and ample shoulders to hold me, to gather me, to celebrate me. When I come up for air, I will have the grace to feel blessed that life had chosen me and your friends to call you a friend. It is not a gift that I will take for granted".

Tlhabi described McKaiser as someone who respected friendship and trusted the people around him to be their own person.

“He loved loudly and emphatically and did not wait for another day to express the depth of his love, and that has been the source of comfort — that I know he knew I adored him and he loved me too.”

TimesLIVE

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