Johannesburg: Amina Cachalia is a name of Indian-origin woman, which figures out in History as the Lady Love of Former South African President Nelson Mandela. He even proposed the lady for Marriage.
Amina was the widow of veteran ANC activist Yusuf Cachalia and Mandela proposed her after his 27 years of imprisonment and his marriage to Winnie Mandela ended. But she dismissed his declarations of love, she wrote in her biography ‘When Hope and History Rhyme’.
Amina, who died last month aged 83, revealed an intimate and affectionate side to the relationship between her and lifelong family friend Mandela in the book released after her death.
Her children, Ghaleb and Coco Cachalia both confirmed that their mother had confided in them about Mandela’s marriage offer.
Mandela, 94, is currently in a Pretoria hospital being treated for a lung infection. He was elected the first black president of the rainbow nation in 1994.