Tributes pour in for ‘selfless servant’ Essop Pahad

Hailed as a “loyal comrade” and a “selfless and dedicated servant of the people”, Essop Pahad’s death on Thursday triggered a flood of emotions as President Cyril Ramaphosa led tributes that celebrated the former cabinet member as one of the instrumental figures in SA’s journey to democracy. 

Pahad, who served as the minister in the presidency from 1999 to 2008 under Thabo Mbeki, was 84 at the time of his death. In a statement, Ramaphosa expressed sorrow upon learning of Pahad’s passing, describing him as “a veteran of our struggle who made immense contributions to our journey towards democracy”. 

Pahad, a close ally of former president Thabo Mbeki, was born in 1939 in Schweizer-Reneke in the former Transvaal. He grew up in a family of political activists who fought against apartheid. He joined the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress in 1958 and became involved with the ANC and the SACP.

He was arrested, banned and exiled for his anti-apartheid activities. He returned to SA in 1990 and became a parliamentary counsellor to Mbeki, who was then deputy president. He was appointed as minister in the presidency after Mbeki became president in 1999.

He resigned as minister in 2008, after Mbeki’s resignation as president. He remained loyal to Mbeki and critical of his successor Jacob Zuma. In his role as minister in the presidency, he carried out a wide range of political duties such as responsibility for the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), where he interacted with the media. 

Former SABC head of news Snuki Zikalala said Pahad made big strides in terms of transformation at the public broadcaster.  

“The SABC needed to be transformed radically from the state broadcaster to the public broadcaster in the 1990s. There was a clear alignment between the SABC management, its board and the mandate of the ANC government and Essop monitored that passionately,” Zikalala said. 

Former journalist Moipone Malefane, who interacted with him during her time at Sowetan and Sunday Times, said as a government communicator, Pahad never saw himself as a gatekeeper. 

“He was not shy to talk. He knew what Mbeki stood for. Pahad engaged in a way you felt you were being engaged by Mbeki.  He was never arrogant. There were no insults, we would engage and sometimes I would agree and other times we would agree to disagree,” Malefane said. 

The ANC issued a statement of condolence, saying Pahad was “a selfless and dedicated servant of the people” and “a fearless fighter against apartheid and a champion of democracy and social justice”. The party acknowledged Pahad’s role in promoting SA’s image and interests on the global stage, saying that he was “a visionary leader who understood the importance of building a better Africa and a better world”.

Revered by the party and others for his intellectual prowess, and his key role in shaping the country’s democratic state after the end of apartheid, Pahad caused controversy during and after his government tenure.

He was one of the first politicians to be linked to the notorious Gupta family, who later used their ties to Zuma to run an industrial-scale corruption project, otherwise known as state capture, that corroded almost every layer of government. In 2006, he nominated Ajay Gupta, who then already had close ties to Mbeki’s successor Jacob Zuma, for a position on the board of the International Marketing Council of SA (IMC), later rebranded as Brand SA.

Between 2009 and 2010, Pahad became a director of TNA Media, owner of The New Age newspaper. The Indian-born Gupta trio also co-bankrolled The Thinker, a monthly magazine that often featured articles by their associates. He severed his business ties with the Guptas in 2011 but maintained his friendship with them.

Malefane said Pahad and others initially supported the Guptas’ plans to go into publishing with good intentions. “At the time they thought that would be a mouthpiece of government to counter the hostility. Little did they know the Guptas had a different agenda,” Malefane said. 

Pahad was accused of being involved in corruption and trying to squash an inquiry into allegations of racketeering, and money laundering related to a deal to buy tens of billions of rand in military hardware in the late 1990s, or the arms deal scandal. He denied these allegations.