When news broke that the former deputy president had passed away, I immediately remembered the inhumane moment a few years ago when fake news spread about his supposed death.
When his recent death was confirmed, it felt like hearing of the loss of a dear elder, someone you hadnt seen in some time but who had shaped a part of your world. Someone whose absence feels like a sudden silence in a room you didnt know he filled until he was gone. It was more than a headline. It was devastating.
For four years I worked in the office of the former deputy president, serving in capacities including acting spokesperson. I cannot claim to have been close to him as he was a private man, but I got to know and appreciate his leadership.
Mabuza was never one for theatrics. Instead, he chose to focus on the difficult work, often far from cameras. When he did speak to the media, it would be because we put a compelling case before him.
This was evinced in his handling of the water and electricity crisis in Maluti-a-Phofung municipality and the diplomacy he pursued in 2019 and 2020 to help restore the revitalised agreement on the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan, which led to the inauguration of the countrys vice-presidents in a transitional government of national unity.