Tributes to former deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, Aziz Pahad, have been streaming in since his death.
Pahad, 82, died at his Saxonwold home Johannesburg on Wednesday night.
Parliament, of which Pahad served as a member from 1994 to 2008, described him as a “an extraordinary revolutionary who gave his all to the fight against apartheid and dedicated his life to the establishment of a democratic society in South Africa”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and chairperson of the national council of provinces Amos Masondo described Pahad as an exceptional diplomat.
“It was fitting that, in acknowledgement of his vast experience in international mobilisation against the apartheid regime, Aziz Pahad was appointed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the dawn of our democracy and our reintegration into the global community,” Ramaphosa said.
“Aziz Pahad was a consummate diplomat not only in the service of our country but in support of causes for freedom and justice elsewhere in the world, notably advocating the plight of the Palestinian people,” the president added.
Mapisa-Nqakula and Masondo were saddened by the death of Pahad, a skilful diplomat who managed to navigate through treacherous waters in the international relations sector.
“Even after stepping away from the Cabinet in 2008, Mr. Pahad’s commitment to serving his people endured.
“His appointments as President Jacob Zuma's envoy to Israel and Palestine in 2014 and his chairmanship of a policy review commission under President Cyril Ramaphosa reflected his ongoing dedication to advancing the nation's interests on the world stage,” they said.
Pahad was born into a family of anti-apartheid activists in 1940.
The SACP stated: “His activism was already maturing during his teenage years when he became a member of the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress in 1958. His activist role included organising strikes against the racist regime, premised on a non-racial basis.”
Pahad became an invaluable player in galvanising the international anti-apartheid movement while based in the UK in 1964, following the Rivonia Trial and having been exiled by the apartheid regime.
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