The ANC in Gauteng has described late former health MEC Brian Hlongwa as an “astute and seasoned political educator” who played a key role in political training within the movement.
In a statement, the ANC Gauteng Provincial Task Team said: “Comrade Brian was an astute and seasoned political educator who also served at the OR Tambo School of Leadership as a Manager dealing with political education programmes”.
The party said Hlongwa’s political activism began in the late 1970s and early 1980s through student and youth formations opposed to apartheid, before he later became involved in underground ANC and Umkhonto weSizwe structures.
“Because of his involvement in those underground structures, he became part of the security machinery provided to the late President Nelson Mandela in the early days of his release from jail,” the statement said
The ANC outlined Hlongwa’s progression through local government in Johannesburg before his appointment as Gauteng MEC for Health from 2006 to 2009. He later served as ANC chief whip in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature and was a member of the party’s provincial executive committee.
“He also served as a member of the ANC Gauteng PEC for several years, where he was responsible for Political Education and Training,” the ANC statement said.
As previously reported by , Hlongwa died while facing unresolved criminal charges, including corruption, fraud, and money laundering, linked to alleged irregular contracts and payments during his tenure at the Gauteng Department of Health. He denied the allegations, and the case had not been finalised at the time of his death.
The ANC extended condolences to his family, relatives and comrades, saying his life was shaped by what it described as an unwavering commitment to the ideals of the movement
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