The deputy speaker of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, Inkosi Mhlabunzima Hlengwa, passed away on Thursday morning, hours after the death of another official of the provincial parliament.
According to African National Congress spokesperson Mtholephi Mthimkhulu, Hlengwa "was a patriot who was dedicated to the eradication of poverty and underdevelopment in the province".
At this stage it appeared as if he had died in his sleep.
On Wednesday night the legislature's director of committees, Mbali Mbuyazi, was killed in a car accident while heading for a public hearing on the provincial Constitution to be held in Newcastle.
Mthimkhulu said the legislature as an institution and the people of KwaZulu-Natal that it served had lost "a public servant par excellence".
Mbuyazi had refused to be drawn into politics and instead chose to serve all members of the legislature "regardless of their political or ideological hues", Mthimkhulu said.
Inkatha Freedom Party MPL Anthony Grinaker said he had worked with Mbuyazi for many years and added he would be remembered "as a friendly, dedicated and committed member of staff at the legislature who served everybody with professionalism".
The IFP has recommended that the legislature's executive board rename the Natal Witness Building, where all legislature staff were now housed, after Mbuyazi.
He is survived by his wife, Gugu MaKwanazi, and two children. - Sapa