Cape Town - Academics, colleagues, politicians and diplomats are among those who have sent tributes and messages of condolence after the death on Saturday evening of Daniel Plaatjies, the chairperson of the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC).
Plaatjies, 57, who was reported by his family to have died “unexpectedly of natural causes,” was raised in Netreg, Bonteheuwel, and was educated at Modderdam High School. He went on to the University of Cape Town followed by the University of the Witwatersrand, and finally the University of Manchester.
He specialised in public policy, public finance and governance, and edited three books.
Speaking on behalf of colleagues, FFC deputy chairperson Michael Sachs said: “He was a South African patriot who dedicated his life to the cause of social justice and non-racialism.
“His acute and insightful contribution to financial and fiscal debates will be sorely missed in Parliament and public life. The commission itself has lost an able and energetic chairperson, who had lifted the FFC to a new level.”
Among others who paid tribute to Plaaties was South Africa’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Ruby Marks, who posted on Facebook: “Some people leave a vacancy, others, like Daniel, leave a legacy.”
The director of the Dullah Omar Institute, Jaap de Visser, said: “Daniel Plaatjies was a formidable presence, passionate about public service, a reservoir of knowledge on our transition, an ever-curious academic and, above all, a wonderful man.”
ANC provincial education spokesperson Khalid Sayed said: “A man of great integrity who used to always guide me behind the scenes.”
DA member of the public accounts and budget committee, Ricardo Mackenzie, said: “He fully understood the issues facing South Africa.”
Gauteng Education MEC said: “I remember those days that we worked so hard to establish the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa). We will remember your commitment to serve the weak, the poor and the vulnerable.”
Professor Jonathan Jansen said: “I know few people who believed more fervently in our country’s possibilities than the development activist, Daniel Plaatjies.”
South African First Forum convener Rod Solomons said: “A deep thinking and super-efficient public servant. He did not suffer fools gladly.”
Cape Argus