The ANC says it has learnt with sadness of the passing of UN ambassador Dumisani Kumalo. The party says Kumalo died peacefully at his home, on Sunday, aged 71.
The governing party says Kumalo distinguished himself as a top international diplomat and furthered the African agenda on the world stage.
The ANC says Kumalo also played a crucial role in furthering South Africa’s policy of global multilateralism and he will be sorely missed.
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa will remember its late former ambassador to the UN, as a diplomat who was able to put the country on the world map.
Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo served the country at the United Nations from 1999 to 2009. He championed South Africa’s campaign for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council during the former President’s Thabo Mbeki’s tenure.
The former Foreign Affairs minister Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says ambassador Kumalo had to deal with challenging issues at the United Nations at that time, such as Zimbabwe and the invasion of Iraq.
Dlamini-Zuma says Kumalo’s death comes at a time when Zimbabwe is back in the news.
South Africa’s former ambassador to Brazil Lindiwe Zulu says the late Kumalo’s legacy should be emulated. Speaking to the SABC, Zulu has commended Kumalo for the role he played in the development of South African foreign policy.
