Johannesburg - ANC MP and former SACP member Crosby Moni was a humble man who was loyal to the country and its workers, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Monday.
“His untimely and unexpected death comes as a shock,” NUM acting spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu said in a statement.
“It is a sad loss to the alliance as a whole, especially the NUM where he started his political career,” he said.
Moni contracted malaria during a recent visit to Mozambique and died on Sunday.
A founding member and former deputy president of the NUM, he served as a mineworker at the Matla Colliery, in Mpumalanga, with former NUM general secretary and African National Congress secretary general Gwede Mantashe, Mammburu said.
“(He) was always at the forefront of the struggle to liberate black mineworkers from capitalists.”
The Office of the ANC Chief Whip said it was deeply pained at his death, and described him as “an experienced politician, a humble people's servant and an outstanding activist”.
“Comrade Moni's political activism cut across the entire revolutionary tripartite alliance, having held leadership positions within all the structures of the alliance formations,” said spokesman Moloto Mothapo.
Moni joined Parliament in 2011 and represented the constituency of Benoni, on the East Rand.
“He was truly a reservoir of political knowledge, whose immense contribution to debates both within the structures of caucus and Parliament will be sorely missed,” said SA Communist Party spokesman Alex Mashilo.
Moni was a member of the SACP's central committee, and was mostly active in Mpumalanga.
Mashilo said the SACP was devastated by his sudden death.
“Crosby was one of the best calibres that our revolutionary movement has ever produced,” he said.
He was an ANC Mpumalanga deputy chairman, and was instrumental in rebuilding SA National Civic Organisation structures.
“In memory of Comrade Crosby, the SACP will deepen its work to advance and defend the unity of our alliance and our programme to build working class hegemony in all key sites of power,” Mashilo said.
Moni is survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters.
Sapa