Official funeral for former Minister Pravin Gordhan

President Cyril Ramaphosa has granted lifelong activist and former Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan an official funeral. 

Gordhan passed away in hospital in the early hours of Friday morning after a battle with cancer. He was 75 years old. 

The late former Minister will be laid to rest in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday.

Speaking during the signing ceremony of the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill in Pretoria on Friday, President Ramaphosa said Gordhan was one of the most principled and courageous freedom fighters the country has produced. 

“South Africans woke up to the sad news of the passing of former Minister Pravin Gordhan. I had the occasion to go and spend some time with him last night in hospital as I returned from Cape Town before he passed on. “I was able to get a moment to speak to him even though he could no longer hear me. But it was a sad moment for me to be able to watch him as he was passing on to his journey to another world,” the President said. 

President Ramaphosa extended his condolences to the Minister’s wife, Vanitha Raju, daughters Anisha and Priyesha, as well as his family members across the world. 

“Gordhan dedicated his life to the struggle and freedom of our people, he fought to liberate this country from the shackles of apartheid. From inequality, poverty and hunger, he is one person who was driven by a vision of a society in which all people have achieved their full potential and which all may realise their dreams. 

“I have decided that we will have an official funeral to say our goodbyes to him as a nation,” the President.

READ | Tributes continue for “patriot” former Minister Pravin Gordhan 

Gordhan served as Minister of Finance from 2009 until 2014 and again from 2015 until 2017. He also served as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2014 until 2015. He also served as Minister of Public Enterprises from February 2018 until announcement of his planned retirement in March.

Gordhan was appointed as Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service in 1999, after serving as the Deputy Commissioner of the revenue service.

His contribution to the public sector arose from his involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle, including his role in the student and civic movements in the 1970s and ‘80s, as an executive member of the Natal Indian Congress and military operative in the armed wing of the African National Congress.

During South Africa’s transition to democracy and in the early years of the new dispensation, Gordhan played a leading role in the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) multi-party dialogue and was later appointed as Chairperson of the Parliamentary Constitutional Committee.

The year 2023 marked 50 years since Gordhan graduated from the University of Durban-Westville with a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree which led to him working at the King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban from 1974 to 1981.

In the early 1980s, his activism led to his dismissal from the hospital, as well as detention by police and banning orders. – SAnews.gov.za