Pretoria - ANC stalwart and former minister Zola Skweyiya will receive an official funeral, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared on Thursday.
Ramaphosa announced this during a visit to the Skweyiya family in Pretoria.
He was accompanied by Deputy President David Mabuza, ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule and Treasurer General Paul Mashatile.
"Not only because he was a past minister but also because of his stature in our movement, in the struggle and in the contribution he has made in the liberation and development of our people," Ramaphosa said.
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Skweyiya died in a Johannesburg hospital on Wednesday morning. He was 75.
Skweyiya was democratic South Africa's first Public Service and Administration minister. He later served as social development minister before retiring in 2009.
He then served as the country's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.
Upon his return to South Africa, Skweyiya remained active within ANC structures and in 2016 he added his voice among ANC veterans who were calling for the resignation of former president Jacob Zuma.