The Trek4Mandela expedition to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania has been called off after the death of motor-racing champion Gugu Zulu yesterday.

Verne Harris, director of dialogue at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said the expedition was called off after the incident with only a few people from the two groups who were already ahead summitting.

"They are all on their way down to base camp now and are expected to reach it by 5pm this evening [yesterday]. [Foundation CEO] Sello [Hatang] flew up there to be with them and also offer some counselling for the trauma they might have experienced."

SA rally driver Gugu Zulu dies

Harris was not sure of the names of those who had gone ahead.

The team, including Zulu's wife, Letshego, left SA last week and were expected to summit just hours before his tragic death.

According to expedition organisers, his team, led by mountaineer Sibusiso Vilane and Richard Mabaso, founder of Caring4Girls and Trek4Mandela, decided to bring Zulu to lower altitudes to help him breathe normally.

"We have been in touch with the team leader. He told us they tried all they could to help by bringing Gugu to a lower altitude after he complained of extreme breathing problems. His body could not acclimatise in time," Harris said.

Zulu is believed to have died from high-altitude sickness.

However, Roland Magg, an administrator at The Mountain Club of SA, said companies that host tours were to blame for exposing their clients to harsh weather conditions without supervising them.

"It's a tough expedition. But what I've seen happening is that people are rushed to hike without getting their bodies acclimatised. That is because it gets very busy up there and it's very expensive to hike. So the less time you spend on the mountain, the better. Nowadays you get people spending three days instead of the recommended five days. But unfortunately it eats on your body," Magg said yesterday.

However, the foundation, since 2012, only summits Kilimanjaro once a year and Harris said participants were randomly invited to take part at no cost to themselves. "They then go through vigorous 6-months training to prepare them. It's a physically demanding venture and we've had one or two people who had to pull out for health reasons."

The foundation, together with Caring4Girls, sponsored the trip for dozens of SA personalities to summit the 5895m mountain to bring awareness to the plight of young girls who don't have access to sanitary pads in SA.

Zulu's death followed that of South African-born Maria Strydom who died descending Mount Everest two months ago. Kilimanjaro records showed between three and seven deaths annually.

Hatang personally recruited Zulu to go on the expedition. "I am devastated . The last thing he said to me at the airport before he left was that he wanted to speak about doing other Mandela Day projects."

On Saturday Zulu hinted at his health issues with a Facebook post that read: "Made it though day2. My wife is doing fabulous, she has even learnt the local language. Am having flu-like symptoms and struggling with the mountain but taking it step by step!! Today we managed to see our destination and our camp is literary above the clouds!!"

Zulu and Letshego have a one-year-old daughter.