Gordhan died in hospital this morning surrounded by his family.

Family Spokesperson Adrian Lackay has confirmed the news of Gordhan’s passing.

Gordhan was admitted to hospital earlier this week, where his family said that he would be receiving the best medical care.

Born in 1949, Pravin Gordhan made his mark in SA. During the apartheid era, he joined the Natal Indian Congress in 1971 and four years later, served in its executive council.

He had his share of persecution by the brutal apartheid regime when he got arrested in 1981 for his political stance. He was released in 1982.

In 1991, after the unbanning of political formations, Gordhan was elected to serve on Convention for a Democratic SA’s first steering committee and he later became the multiparty negotiating Planning Committee Chair.

From 1993 to 1994 Gordhan co-chaired Transitional Executive Council in Pretoria.

In a democratic SA, he was an African National Congress Member of Parliament from 1994 to 1998, and in 1996 he chaired the Parliamentary Constitutional Committee.

By 1998 he was Chairperson of the Forum on Tax Administration. Gordhan was also the Deputy Commissioner of SA Revenue Service in 1998 and a year later, he ascended to the position of Commissioner, a position he occupied for a decade.

But his career didn’t end there. He became the Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2014 and then moved to the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, a position he held for a year.

From 2018 until he retired, he headed the Public Enterprises Ministry.

--SABC--