THE family of veteran actor and gender activist Patrick Shai have made a passionate plea to social media users to stop hurting them with negative comments and mimes concerning the late actor's death.
Days before his passing Shai was involved in a social media scandal after a video of him insulting rapper Cassper and his mother went viral on Twitter.
He was part of TV productions such as The River, Generations, and Soul City.
Shai later apologised for the insults made to Cassper and his mother, saying he “apologises from the bottom of my heart”.
But damage had already been done.
On social media one of Shai's children had written how damaging his dad's actions were and how some doors were being closed because of the video that was trending on twitter.
Family spokesperson Amogelang Mmusi said Shai's children were not coping with the onslaught that was taking place on their father’s reputation.
"Fighting social media and defending the dead is really emotionally devastating for the family. They should not be doing that. Social media is abuzz with many allegations and stories. They should be mourning and not be dragged all over social media for things they don't know," Mmusi said.
He said even Shai's wife said she was more worried about her children than herself.
"The last born has not had a full life with the dad and Mme Shai had had a full life with Ntate Shai and they had been married over 30 years," Mmusi said.
The Star understands that Shai's wife had blamed the group of people who had shot the video of Shai insulting Cassper for her husband's breakdown.
The family declined to comment on the cause of his death.
Sources close to the family told The Star that it was Shai's wife who discovered the late actor hanging on the garage ceiling.
Police and emergency services were called in but Shai was declared dead on the scene.
"People were in total shock, even the calls that we have been getting were heartfelt and shocking," Mmusi said.
He thanked the community of Dobsonville for their wealth of support since the news broke of Shai's death.
"The streets were packed after the news broke and these were community members that he was always with and to them he was not a celebrity, he was even at some point shot during a service delivery protest," Mmusi said.
He said Shai was outspoken about issues of gender-based violence.
The family wants to remember him as a gentle soul and a peacemaker, Mmusi said.