Satish Dhupelia, Mahatma Gandhi’s Great-Grandson dies of Covid-19

Dhupelia was related to Gandhi by way of his Grandfather Manilal Gandhi

JOHANNESBURG: Satish Dhupelia, the South-African Great-Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi passed away on Sunday, 3 days after his 66^th birthday. He died due to complications caused by Covid-19.

The news was confirmed by Dhupelia’s sister, Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie  who also lives in Johannesburg. He died due to Covid-19 and contracted the virus a month earlier when he visited a hospital to treat his pneumonia.  

Uma said on a social media post, ““My beloved brother has passed on after a month of illness with pneumonia, a superbug contracted in hospital and then COVID-19 also contracted while he was being treated. He suffered a major cardiac arrest this evening,”

Dhupelia was the grandson of Manilal Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s 2^nd son who he left back in South Africa to continue Gandhi’s cause along with being the editor for a Gujarati-English weekly.

Dhupelia and Gandhi’s cause

Satish himself was constantly involved in social causes, He was very active in assisting the Gandhi Development Trust to continue the work started by the Mahatma at the Phoenix Settlement near Durban. Dhupelia worked in the media industry who was a lifelong photographer and videographer.

He was an active member in various social organizations and worked tirelessly toward helping people from all

Friends and family expressed their grief and condolences through messages on social media

Political analyst Lubna Nadvi was shocked by the news and remembered Satish as a great humanitarian and activist. She further added, “He was also a great friend of the Advice Desk for Abused Women, and always assisted the organisation in whichever way he could.”

Dhupelia was also a member of the Board of the 1860 Heritage Foundation, which on Monday November 16 commemorated the arrival of the first indentured labourers from India to work on the sugar cane fields of Durban.

Dhupelia was famous for his humour, especially on social media. In one of his last Facebook posts, he wrote: Let us also not forget that we still need to stand together to achieve our final goals of equality for all and an eradication of poverty.

Dhupelia is survived by his sisters Uma Dhupelia-Mestrie and Kirti Menon

Also Read: George Clooney gives close friend 1 million dollars.