The ANC said it was saddened by the death of party veteran Achmat Semaar, who is the father of journalist Karima Brown.
“Comrade Semaar, 72, was distinguished as a cadre of the movement who dedicated his entire life to the struggle of the people,” said ANC acting national spokesperson Dakota Legoete.
“He joined the struggle at an early age and was active in various structures of the ANC underground, Mass Democratic Movement and the United Democratic Front.”
The ANC said Semaar’s core activist work was within the Mitchells Plain community, where he was committed to working to unite South Africans and build a non-racial country.
A father of six children and grandfather to 14, Semaar was an activist for most of his life and never lived far from or stopped caring and fighting for ordinary people.
ANC Western Cape Secretary Faiez Jacobs said: “Achmat Semaar was a giant in Mitchells Plain.
“He made an impact on so many lives and was a father to hundreds of young people who were persecuted, arrested, tortured or hunted by the apartheid state.
“In the time known as the Struggle, he was a beacon of light, a voice that comforted and brought help. Truly he was one of our greatest sons.”
His daughter, journalist and broadcaster Karima Brown, said: “My father was an activist all his life. He was always involved with ordinary people. If he did not work for the ANC he would have died.”