By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former minister in the presidency Essop Pahad has passed away. He was 84-years-old.
A statement released on behalf of his children said: “It is with a heavy heart that we bring you the news of the passing of our beloved father. He peacefully left us in his sleep earlier today.
“He was not only a renowned figure in politics but also a loving brother, father, and grandfather. Unfortunately, he had been battling stage 4 cancer recently and succumbed to the illness.”
The family confirmed Pahad would be buried on Thursday and that they were finalising the details of the funeral.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says he was deeply saddened by the death of the struggle stalwart and expressed his condolences to his friends and family.
“We mourn the passing of a veteran of our struggle, 65 years after he took his first revolutionary step of becoming a member of the Transvaal Indian Congress. Security crackdowns, banning and exile shaped Essop Pahad’s contribution over decades to our struggle and, as Parliamentary counsellor to [former] president Thabo Mbeki and Minister in the Presidency, to the early design and impact of our democratic state,” Ramaphosa said.
The Presidency said Pahad served the country with “pride, principle, pragmatism, and a charm that that lived comfortably alongside a tongue that could lash severely at the right provocation”.
Pahad served as Minister in the Presidency from 1999 to 2008 under former president Thabo Mbeki.
From Schweizer-Reneke in the North West, Pahad came from a well-known family of political activists who fought against apartheid.
The apartheid government arrested him in 1962 for organising an illegal strike, and he was later banned from the country.
In exile, Pahad served in the leadership of the ANC and the SACP. Before he was appointed as a minister, he served as a parliamentary advisor to Mbeki.
After leaving the government in 2008, he started a quarterly magazine called The Thinker.
He held a PhD in history from the University of Sussex and a master’s degree from the same university.
Pahad also served on the national executive committee of the ANC from 1994 until 2007.
Pahad was a close confidant of Mbeki and served as his parliamentary counsellor and spin doctor. He rose through the ranks of the South African Communist Party and the ANC.