Sebabatso Mosamo, an AP visual journalist in South Africa, has died

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Sebabatso Mosamo, an Associated Press visual journalist in South Africa who documented elections, the COVID-19 pandemic and her country’s struggle with poverty and violence, has died. She was 39.

Mosamo died at a hospital in Johannesburg on Saturday after falling ill a week earlier, a family spokesperson said. No cause of death was immediately released.

Known by colleagues and friends as “Sebs,” Mosamo joined the AP in 2021 after working for several prominent South African news outlets, using photos and video to tell intimate stories about people in her country and continent.

“We are at a loss for words and our hearts are shattered,” Mosamo’s family said in a statement. She “took so much pride in her work and family,” the family said.

Described as fearles