Johannesburg - President Cyril Ramaphosa has offered his deep condolences to the family, friends, and comrades of the late veteran, Essop Pahad.
Pahad was a Struggle stalwart and former minister in the Presidency; he died at the age of 84.
"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 President Thabo Mbeki and a minister in the Presidency, to the early design and impact of our democratic state," said Ramaphosa.
He said that 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.
Ramaphosa said that Pahad served the nation with pride, principle, pragmatism, and a charm that lived comfortably alongside a tongue that could lash severely at the right provocation.
Ramaphosa added that amid the excessive demands of his public life, Pahad was deeply devoted to his wife, Meg, and was a proud and doting father and grandfather, who is now sorely missed.
The Star