Celebrity chef, cookbook author, and TV show host Fatima Sydow, 50, from Cape Town, died on Tuesday, according to Voice of the Cape Radio.
Sydow was diagnosed with Soft Tissue Sarcoma in 2020 and was very open about her battle and regularly shared updates with her loyal fans.
In July she announced that the cancer had advanced to stage 4.
She wrote in a Instagram post : “Third year in, Soft tissue sarcoma stage 4 Cancer. An extremely rare and aggressive type of cancer... I am so grateful for the time granted to me thus far... so much mercy”.
In August, Sydow reached out to her followers for financial assistance through a crowdfunding campaign on BackaBuddy.
More than 1,000 donors came together to raise R725,000 towards her target of R750,000.
In October, Cape Town-based musicians and friends in the entertainment industry came together to host a benefit concert for Sydow at the Artscape Theatre.
Sydow has achieved notable success in the past several years, mainly due to her specialty in Cape Malay cooking.
Her most recent book, ‘My Story, My Heritage’ reached No 1 best-seller status after a week on the shelves.
Tributes to the well-known personality from celebs and fans have poured in on social media since since the news broke that she had passed away.
A Cape Town treasure has left us.
— Patricia de Lille (@PatriciaDeLille) December 19, 2023
Beloved chef Fatima Sydow has passed on.
We honored her at the Song for You concert in October.
May the grace of Allah bestow upon her the eternal abode of Jannah Tul Firdous.
And May Allah place Sabr and contentment in the hearts of the family. pic.twitter.com/4iMriqGuoG
RIP #FatimaSydow
— The Caped Cape Curry Connoisseur 🍛 🤤 (@myhandle69) December 19, 2023
Cape Town has lost an institution today!
“Hello everybody…”
😞
Rest in peace Fatima Sydow 💔 pic.twitter.com/yihgTH8xTz
— SugarRay 👑 (@SydenhamStekkie) December 19, 2023