The funeral service of the Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Bavelile Hlongwa will be held in Durban on Saturday and she will be accorded an official Category 2 funeral.
Hlongwa died in a road accident on the N1 at Maubane Bridge, in Hammanskraal last Friday night.
Hlongwa, Katlego Kekana and Sipho Malaka died on scene after a truck ran over them while they were assisting another driver whose vehicle had overturned at the Maubane bridge near Carousel, in Hammanskraal, North of Pretoria.
The 38-year-old Hlongwa was born on the 4th of April in 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 KwaZulu-Natal.
It was then that she became an active member of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL).
A qualified chemical engineer, Hlongwa also served as Deputy Chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency in 2017.
In May, she was sworn in as a member of the National Assembly.
KwaZulu-Natal ANCYL Secretary, Thanduxolo Sabela described Hlongwa as a champion for fighting for young people’s rights.
“She dedicated an entire life to youth development, she was a fearless fighter she was indomitable she was a lady that when she believes something she will never look back she stood her ground. And she fought for women. She believed in the woman’s struggle she was fighting side-by-side with all women of our country who had experience and a form of abuse she did not tolerate any such actions by males and she was very clear that women are equal to two lanes in in the Republic of South Africa.”
Hlongwa will be laid to rest at the Chesterville’s Heroes Acre in Durban.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to deliver the eulogy.
The funeral will be televised live on SABC 2 and SABC News Channel 404.
