Membathisi Mdladlana, the former minister of labour, has died at the age of 72.
Mdladlana, who succeeded the late Tito Mboweni as labour minister in Nelson Mandela’s government in 1998, passed away on Friday morning.
This happened as Mboweni will be laid to rest at his home in Tzaneen, Limpopo, on Saturday.
Mdladlana held the job until 2010 through the administrations of Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe, and Jacob Zuma.
When Zuma reshuffled his cabinet, Mdadlana was left out in the cold.
He was patriotic
According to the family spokesperson, Mayibuye Sokupe, Mdladlana passed away after a short illness.
“The minister was very upbeat and a character like he has always been. He was very patriotic,” Sokupe told the SABC News.
“We are still waiting to convene as the family and decide on how we are going to prepare for his send-off.”
She added that the family will remember Mdladlana as someone who always spoke against harming oneself.
“He has always been very strict as well. He was a jolly person, retired but remained very optimistic. He was loving and full of laughter; that is the uncle I choose to remember, and surely many of us as family.”
Teaching was important to Mdladlana
Sokupe shared that after retirement, Mdladlana dedicated his time to assisting with teaching programmes that helped students who struggled academically and needed extra lessons.
“Before he occupied offices as the minister, he was the first president of Sadtu [South African Democratic Teachers Union], so teaching remained very important to him. He became more active in the church and the community.”
After the 1994 elections, he was elected an MP for the ANC
Mdladlana was born in the Eastern Cape in May 1952. He was a qualified teacher who worked from 1972 to 1981 at Vukukhanye Primary School in Gugulethu, which is outside of Cape Town.
Following his tenure in the ministry, the former minister served as ambassador to Burundi and high commissioner to Canada.
