Communications Minister Ayanda Dlodlo said that the Government Communication and Information System’s (GCIS) Pretoria media centre has been named after the late anti-apartheid activist and spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.
“Rest in peace my comrade, my friend and my fellow fighter. You will be solely missed,” said Dlodlo.
She was speaking at a memorial service held at the GCIS in Pretoria yesterday.
“We will remember that every time, and especially when we walk into the GCIS media centre, which will now be called the Ronnie Mamoepa Media Centre.”
President Jacob Zuma has declared a Special Provincial Official Funeral for Mamoepa, who died in Pretoria on Saturday after suffering a stroke last month. Zuma hailed Mamoepa as a “highly regarded government communicator, an accomplished public servant and freedom fighter”.
Mamoepa had worked as spokesperson and head of communications for then Gauteng premier, Tokyo Sexwale, between 1994 and 1996. He later served as a chief director: communication and spokesperson to then president Thabo Mbeki and Zuma, who was deputy president at the time, before becoming foreign ministry spokesperson.
In 2014, Mamoepa was seconded to the Presidency by the Home Affairs Department and became spokesperson for Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, a position he held until his death.