The management of departments and entities led by the late Minister in the Presidency, Jackson Mthembu paid their respects through a drive-by-visit at his home in Ackerville.
Minister Mthembu passed away on Thursday, January 21 from Covid-related complications.
He will be honoured with an official funeral category one at his home on Sunday, January 24.
The national flag will be flown at half-mast at every flag station in the country from tomorrow morning, January 23, until the evening of the day of the funeral. Minister Mthembu contributed immensely to the liberation struggle as an anti-apartheid activist, student leader, and unionist, for which he was subjected to harassment and detention by the apartheid security forces. He occupied several strategic and leadership roles in the democratic South Africa.
He served the African National Congress as its spokesperson from 1995 to 1997 and from 2009 to 2014. He contributed to the development of South Africa’s democratic constitution and served as a MEC in Mpumalanga. He has been a member of the ANC National Executive Committee since 2007 and served as the ANC’s Chief Whip in the National Assembly from 2016 to 2019.
He was appointed as Minister in the Presidency after the 2019 general election. The minister was well-known in eMalahleni as he was born here and also worked here during the 1980s. He grew up in Kromkrans between Hendrina and Carolina in the then Transvaal.
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, Mthembu was a student leader at Elukhanyisweni Secondary School in Witbank. He worked at Highveld Steel as a training officer from 1980 to 1984, and as a production foreman from 1986 to 1988. He was a senior steward at the Metal and Allied Workers Union from 1984 to 1986 and chair of the Witbank Education Crisis Committee from 1980 to 1986.
“We are all saddened by the passing of Jackson. I only have fond memories of him. eMalahleni is crying…,” said Mr Mahomed Bhamjee, a well-known businessman and childhood friend of Minister Mthembu.
*A memorial service will be held at 13:00 on Saturday at the Government Communication and Information System Auditorium in Hatfield in Tshwane. The memorial service and official funeral will take place in compliance with the applicable Disaster Management Act regulations.
