Cape Town - National Freedom Party (NFP) leader Zanele Magwaza-Msibi passed away on Monday morning after she was admitted to the Umhlanga Hospital in Durban two weeks ago.
NFP secretary-general Canaan Mdletshe confirmed her death, saying the party was devastated as NFP members had hoped that she would recover.
Mdletshe said she had died as a result of cardiac arrest.
NFP MP Munzoor Shaik Emam said : “She had not been well. I am advised it is Covid-19 related. She has been in the ICU and unfortunately this morning she passed away.”
He said Magwaza-Msibi’s untimely death “was indeed a great shock ((tinged)) with sadness”.
Mdletshe said the 59-year-old Magwaza was not any ordinary politician.
He said she was one of the best leaders to come from South Africa who had left a remarkable mark on many people, especially in the Zululand region.
Emam said Magwaza-Msibi was selfless in serving the interests of the vulnerable and the most poor in particularly in the areas she had had opportunities.
The NFP founder had never fully recovered from the stroke she had suffered in 2014 which affected her mobility.
Emam said if there was anything Magwaza-Msibi left behind, it was “her selfless and passionate commitment to serve and make a difference in the lives of the people”.
Magwaza-Msibi cut her political teeth in the IFP and rose through the ranks to become its national chairperson.
The former mayor of Zululand District Municipality founded the NFP as a breakaway from the IFP in 2011.
After her party secured several seats in the National Assembly and KwaZulu-Natal legislature, former deputy president Jacob Zuma appointed her as the deputy minister of science and technology from 2014 until 2019.
However, after a poor performance by the NFP in 2019 elections, she did not stay long in the National Assembly, and her position was taken up by Emam.
Political Bureau