President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his condolences following the passing of former Minister of Labour and High Commissioner to Canada, Membathisi Mphumzi Shepherd Mdladlana.

This as news of Mdladlana’s passing broke on Friday afternoon.

‘President Ramaphosa offers his deep condolences to the family and friends of Mr Mdladlana who has passed away at the age of 72,’ said the Presidency in statement.

A teacher by training and a former school principal, Mdladlana became a member of South Africa’s first democratic Parliament in 1994.

Four years later, he was appointed Minister of Labour by President Nelson Mandela and was retained in this role by Presidents Thabo Mbeki,Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma.

The Presidency noted that Mdladlana’s predecessor was former Minister and Reserve Bank Governor Dr Tito Mboweni.

Dr Mboweni passed away a week ago and will be honoured tomorrow, Saturday, 19 October with a Special Official Funeral Category 2.

READ | Government updates the nation on preparations for Dr M
boweni funeral

‘Membathisi Mdladlana’s passing is a loss to his family and friends as much as it is to the nation.

‘While we may try to prepare ourselves for the inevitability of such a loss, bereavement is never easy. We have recently been visited by a succession of departures of veterans of our liberation struggle and pioneers of the dawn of our democracy,’ said President Ramaphosa.

The President referred to Mdladlana as a pioneer.

‘Membathisi Mdladlana was one such pioneer who was a first-generation Member of Parliament who had been prepared for this role during an extended period of leadership in the South Western African Teachers Association, the Peninsula African Teachers Association and the Cape African Teachers Union before becoming a founding member and Chairperson of the South African Democratic Teachers Union.

‘He provided leadership in this strategic sector of our struggle at a time of great repression by the state and growing resistance by the people.

‘In the year in which we are marking 30
years of freedom and democracy, Shepherd Mdladlana’s passing and that of other leaders takes us back in time to the sacrifices and struggles of our past, the hope with which we embarked on building a new society and the hard work it has taken since then to secure the gains we have made.

‘Shepherd Mdladlana will live on in our hearts and our history. May his soul rest in peace,’ said the President.

Source: South African Government News Agency