Economist Tony Twine's death was a loss to South Africa, the ANC said on Monday.
“Indeed, South Africa and the world has lost a humanist of note, whose pre-occupation was to make sure that the South African economy is able to create jobs, one of the key priority areas of the ANC-led government,” party spokesman Jackson Mthembu said in a statement.
Twine, 57, died on Sunday in Milpark hospital, following a heart attack last week.
He was an economist and director at Econometrix.
“In the post apartheid South Africa, Tony was one of the economic advisers to president Nelson Mandela and the first democratic government of South Africa,” Mthembu said.
The ANC was saddened to learn of Twine's death and extended its condolences to his wife Marilyn, family and friends.
Earlier, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said Twine's input to the post-apartheid economic debate would be missed.
“Mr Twine made a valuable contribution to the development of policies in several government departments and was part of a team that drafted South Africa's energy policies,” Gordhan said in a statement.
“The National Treasury valued his insight on such issues as international ratings agencies, the automobile industry, petroleum markets and various aspects of litigation and competition law economics,” Gordhan said.
“As an eminent researcher and senior economist at Econometrix, his widely-published opinions in international media helped to form positive views of South Africa by investors.”
Two weeks ago, Twine released a report on the positive economic implications of the proposed Karoo shale gas exploration, commissioned by Shell.
Twine matriculated from Pinelands High School and graduated from University of Cape Town, according to the Econometrix website.
He studied at the University of SA while working for Mobil Oil Southern Africa, where he worked extensively on demand models for gasoline and diesel.
He joined Datsun Nissan, where he worked as senior economist and market research manager.
Twine joined Econometrix in 1983, and became a director in 1986. - Sapa