President Cyril Ramaphosa has arrived at the home of the late Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources, Bavelile Hlongwa, in Umbilo south of Durban. Ramaphosa is being accompanied by the KwaZulu-Natal leadership of the African National Congress (ANC).

Hlongwa, Katlego Kekana and Sipho Malaka died after a truck ran over them while they were assisting another driver whose vehicle had overturned on the N1 highway near the Carousel Plaza, north of Pretoria, last weekend; barely four months after she was appointed deputy minister.

Ramaphosa has described Hlongwa’s passing as a great loss.

“She advocated to struggles; the struggle of women and the struggle of young people in a very direct and forward manner. So she is a great loss.”

The funeral service for Hlongwa will be held at the Durban ICC on Saturday.

KwaZulu-Natal ANC Women’s League secretary Nonhlanhla Gabela says Hlongwa’s night vigil will be held at her home in Umbilo later on Friday.

“The family has agreed that it’s going to start at 19:00. On Saturday morning on the 21st, the funeral service will start at 8:00 at the Durban ICC then after the funeral will be there at the Heroes Acre in Durban. We are still requesting for the overflow for all of us because the funeral is open to the public, but the space that we have at the ICC is limited to 4000 people only. We’re still waiting for the confirmation of the overflow space for the public to come.”

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