POPULAR chef Lesego Semenya, 39, lost his fight against the coronavirus yesterday.
The talented foodie, known as LesDaChef, had been sharing his road to recovery after testing positive for the virus a week ago.
The author of best selling cook book, Dijo, had told his supporters on social media that he had experienced a sore throat and went to the doctor to have a test.
Semenya had been vocal about living with a comorbidity and how getting the vaccine was something he needed.
He was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 2018.
Just last week, he tweeted about how the government had let down people living with comorbidities: (SIC)“Gov really let us "non-old" people with comorbidities down when they changed the strategy on vaccines without even trying to find a workable solution.”
Semenya continued to share his progress on his social media with friends and fans.
On Friday he tweeted: “Day 5. Still fighting this Covid demon while living with a comorbidity. I'm okay, loads of medication and keeping positive. Thank you to those who keep checking up on me. Dr reckons I've seen the worst of it now and it's just about recovery and rest now.”
Yesterday, the news of his death came as a shock to many as people were hopeful that he would recover.
Semenya, much like the late Dr Sindi van Zyl, was popular on social media because of how open he was about food in South Africa, his journey through food, his pets and helping people become better cooks. Semenya always expressed how much he wanted to take the “snobbery” out of food, making it accessible to all and he managed to do just that.
Semenya, a celebrated chef in the country, hosted the Mzansi Magic cooking show Celebrity Mystery Box alongside Chef Nti (Nthabiseng Ramaboa). He had recently announced that he owned all the rights of his book Dijo and would be self publishing going forward.
Messages of condolences have been pouring in for The People’s Chef, as he was affectionately known.
“What a generous and humorous soul, an educator of the culinary arts. A perfectionist (his food photography). I learnt a lot from him, just like a learnt a lot from Dr Sindi. My condolences to you, his family and his partner ’uMabhebheza’. Lord have mercy,” said Twitter user Tando Ntunja.
Redi Tlhabi tweeted: “We are heartbroken at your passing, Lesego. We were so encouraged by this message. But the jealous virus stole our joy and hope. You brought sunshine to so many ... your talent, wit and courage were inspiring. Rest In Peace.”
Another Twitter user, @clarencesdb, shared how even though he had never met the chef, he still felt a deep sense of loss.
“I’m crying ... I never met Lesego but I’m shedding a tear for him. That’s the power of good humans making your life sweet.”
People have been sharing their memories of Semenya and expressing how he kept everyone sane during the hard lockdown.
MbekezeliMB tweeted: “I’m so sad about Chef Lesego’s passing. He really brought a lot of light to the TL. From his illuminating tweets about the history of food, to his wonderful tweets about Porridge and Lady Butters. What a tragic loss.”
Celebrity friends also sent their condolences to the much loved personality.
Details of the chef’s memorial service will be shared later in the week.