The funeral service and burial of the late Mineral Resources and Energy deputy minister Bavelile Hlongwa will be held in Durban on Saturday.
She will be accorded an official category 2 funeral where President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the eulogy.
Hlongwa died in a road accident on the N1 near Hammanskraal last weekend while trying to assist victims of another car accident.
Bavelile Gloria Hlongwa was born on the 4th of April 1981 in Umzinto on KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.
In the early 2000s she enrolled for a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical engineering at the University of Kwa Zulu-Natal, and that would be where her political activism became apparent.
She joined student organisation SASCO and in 2009 she was elected central SRC president. It’s during this time that she also joined the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL).
ANCYL KZN secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo says,“Bavelile Hlongwa played a pivotal role in ensuring that the plight of young people is always on the agenda. She was a very principled leader who stood firm on what she believed.”
She was a fierce critic of ANC Women’s League old generation including current president Bathabile Dlamini. She was also known for championing the fight for the rights of young people.
A qualified chemical engineer, Hlongwa worked for a petroleum company between 2013 and 2017. She served as executive deputy Chairperson of the board of the National Youth Development Agency.
In May this year, she was sworn in as a member of the national assembly and appointed as deputy minister of Mineral Resources and Energy.
At the time of her death, she was pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Administration at the University of Kwa Zulu- Natal.
Her funeral service will be televised live on the SABC 2 and on the SABC news channel.
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