Former Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad has passed on. Pahad’s family confirmed the 84-year-old’s passing.
During his tenure in GCIS Dr Pahad without fail at the end of each year he called the whole army of GCIS officials. To thank all of them and also to guide in what needs to happen in the new year and believe me will track it every month!#RIPEssopPahad. pic.twitter.com/oWc5FOdDVh
— phumla williams (@mirriamp) July 6, 2023
After South Africa’s general elections in 1994, Pahad served as the Parliamentary Counsellor to the then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki. In the 1999 general election, Pahad was appointed as the minister in the Presidency.
In the 2000, Pahad was accused of being involved in corruption, but he denied the accusations. After Mbeki resigned as the President in September 2008, Pahad also submitted his resignation as minister.
Pahad represented the SA Communist Party (SACP) on the editorial Council for the World Marxist Review. Pahad was a member of the organizing committee of the FIFA World Cup that took place in South Africa.
He was the chairman of the board of the Mali Timbuktu Manuscripts Trust as well as a chairman of the board of trustees of the South African Democracy Education Trust and the former member of the national executive committee of the ANC.
After leaving the government in 2008, he launched a South African monthly journal named The Thinker which was later taken over by the University of Johannesburg. – SA History.org
