Jan, 21st 2021 – South African politician Jackson Mthembu has died of Covid at the age of 62. Mthembu, who since 2019 had been serving as the minister in the presidency, was a parliamentarian and long-serving member, of the governing African National Congress (ANC).
10 days ago, Mthembu revealed that he contracted announcing that he was showing some symptoms. President Ramaphosa has described Mthembu, as an exemplary leader who championed democracy.
The late minister played an important role in South Africa’s coronavirus response. He took the responsibility of educating the public about the virus.
He was the born on the 5th of June in 1958 in Witbank. He grew up in Kromkrans in the Transvaal where he used to go to work in Mealie fields with his grandmother Sarah Mthembu.
STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA ON THE PASSING OF MINISTER JACKSON MTHEMBU
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) January 21, 2021
It is with deep sorrow and shock that we announce that Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu passed away earlier today from COVID-related complications.
He is the fourth cabinet level official known to have contracted the virus since it was first detected in the country in March last year.
South Africa is the most Coronavirus hit country in the continent of Africa with almost 1.4 million confirmed infections with almost 39,000 recorded Covid-19 related deaths.