ANOTHER struggle stalwart has fallen.
Former minister in the presidency, Essop Pahad, has died at the age of 84. The close confidant of former president Thabo Mbeki died in his sleep on Thursday morning, 6 July.
Pahad served in the government from 1999 to 2008, when Mbeki was recalled.
Born in Scheweizer-Reneke in the North West, he began his political career in 1958 when he became a member of the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress. Pahad was arrested for organising an illegal strike following the banning of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1962.
He then went into exile, where he became more actively involved with the ANC and the South Africa Communist Party.
Reacting to his death, President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was deeply saddened by the passing of the anti-apartheid hero.
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Ramaphosa said: “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 a parliamentary counsellor to President Thabo Mbeki and minister in the presidency, to the early design and impact of our democratic state,” he said.
The president said Pahad was a thinker and strategist who brought his understanding of the human condition, injustice and inequality at the national and international level to bear on our transition to democracy and in introducing a democratic, non-aligned and activist South Africa to the global community.
“He served our nation with pride, principle, pragmatism, and a charm that that lived comfortably alongside a tongue that could lash severely at the right provocation.
“Amid the excessive demands of his public life, Essop Pahad was deeply devoted to his wife, Meg, and was a proud and doting father and grandfather, who is now sorely missed. May his soul rest in peace,” said Ramaphosa.
The president offered his condolences to the family, friends and comrades of the late veteran.
