Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says government is proud of the late former Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) leader Dr. Motsoko Pheko.
Lesufi paid tribute to Pheko during his funeral in Rosebank, Johannesburg, yesterday.
The anti-apartheid activist died two weeks ago at the age of 93.
Pheko, a pan-Africanist, scholar, author, diplomat, and politician served as a Member of Parliament for 10 years on different portfolio committees.
He was also the PAC’s representative at the United Nations.
He was accorded a Special Provincial Funeral by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Lesufi says, “We come to you to salute and honour the son of the soil. We bow before you as the Gauteng government with a gesture of a Special Official funeral to demonstrate how hurt, but how proud we are that the son of the soil, this scholar, this leader, this lawyer indeed a person that can’t go quietly without the honour of the government that I lead.”
[IN PICTURES] : Special Provincial Official Funeral of anti-apartheid activist, lawyer, author, theologian, academic and historian, Dr Motsoko Pheko who passed on 19 April 2024 at
the age of 93. pic.twitter.com/rIiu2YRcXJ— Gauteng Provincial Gov (@GautengProvince) May 4, 2024
Pheko holds several degrees including an honorary doctorate from the University of South Africa (Unisa)
Advocate Marumo Moerane SC says he deserves all the accolades he has received.
“We appreciate all the richly deserved accolades that have been bestowed upon him. He was truly a remarkable man. A scholar and a gentleman. who wrote and published an autobiography at the age of 88. That was his last biography, battles of an African Shepherd,” Moerane adds.
