Former sports minister Makhenkesi Stofile dies

15 August 2016 - 15:32 By TMG Digital

Arnold Makhenkesi Stofile‚ former ambassador‚ cabinet minister and Eastern Cape premier, has died at the age of 72. African National Congress spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said the provincial leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) were travelling to Stofile's home in Alice on Monday."The provincial leadership is on their way to his home and we will release a statement as soon as we get a confirmation from the family‚" said Kodwa.The cause of death was not clear at this stage.Stofile was born on December 27 1944 in the Winterberg district of Adelaide in the Eastern Cape.He entered politics in 1963 as a member of the African Students' Association‚ an ANC front organisation‚ but only came to the fore on the political front when he became the regional secretary and a member of the national executive committee of the United Democratic Front (UDF) between 1983 and 1986.Stofile then obtained a master of arts degree from Princeton University in the US in 1983. He was awarded a DPhil (hc) by the University of Port Elizabeth in 2000.He became a key person in the establishment and development of the UDF in the Border region.In 1991‚ he was elected as a member of the NEC of the ANC‚ becoming its treasurer-general in 1994.In 1994‚ he became an ANC MP as well as the party's chief whip in Parliament. He served as the ANC's chairperson in the Eastern Cape from 1996.He was reappointed as treasurer-general in 1995‚ a post he held until 1997 when he became premier of the Eastern Cape until 2004, when he was appointed to the cabinet as minister of sport and recreation. He served as minister until 2010...

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