Mac Maharaj is President Jacob Zuma's new spokesman, the Presidency said on Wednesday.
“The President's special envoy, Mr Mac Maharaj, is to take over an additional task of being the Spokesperson of President Jacob Zuma, with immediate effect,” said the Presidency in a statement.
Maharaj is a former transport minister and veteran ANC and SA Communist Party member. He was Zuma's special envoy handling matters particularly in North Africa and the Middle East. He is also a member of the Zimbabwe facilitation team and represents Zuma on the G20 infrastructure working group.
Zuma's former spokesman, Zizi Kodwa, was in the position on an acting basis and would continue his work as a communication adviser.
Maharaj played a key role in the negotiation process to South Africa's first democratic elections, and was joint secretary in 1994 of the Transitional Executive Council.
A political activist since the early 1950s, he was a member of the African National Congress's armed wing Umkhonto weSizwe.
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Sapa