Cape Town – Police have reportedly confirmed that veteran actor Patrick Shai’s body was discovered by his wife Mmasechaba in the garage of their Dobsonville home on Saturday morning after he committed suicide.
According to Times Live, Mmasechaba found her husband “hanging” in the garage and she untied him to lay him on the floor.
The two were married when Mmasechaba was 17-years-old, the report said.
Shai’s family released a statement on Saturday in which they asked to be given time to process the painful loss.
“It is with great sadness to announce the passing of the veteran actor Ntate Patrick Shai. We sincerely ask you to give the family time to process this painful loss. More details will be shared in due course,” his family said.
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Shai, who was best known for his roles in Generations, Soul City and Zero Tolerance, died a few days after he received backlash on social media over his use of inappropriate language, as he challenged rapper Cassper Nyovest to a boxing match in a video posted on Twitter.
He, however, later retracted the distasteful video and apologised to both Cassper and South Africans, saying that he should’ve known better.
“I should have known better as an adult. My apologies, I humbly, humbly from the bottom of my heart, apologise for having used such strong language towards your mom. Even though the challenge would’ve been an ideal thing, now it has been soured by what I said. I apologise from the bottom of my heart, please forgive me and forgive me South Africans. I am regretting every bit of the last sentence that I used, I’m sorry,” said Patrick in a video.
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According to EWN, in 2019, the actor was caught in the crossfire between police and residents in Dobsonville.
He was shot 11 times with rubber bullets while attempting to intervene during a stand-off between residents and the police.
Shai also started a non-government organisation to help abusive men called Khuluma Ndoda after he admitted to physically and emotionally abusing his wife, the report said.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
