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Preparations for the official funeral service of the late Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources, Bavelile Hlongwa are well underway.

President Ramaphosa declared an Official Funeral Category 2 in line with government’s State, Official and Provincial Funeral Policy. The President has further directed that the national flag shall fly at half-mast at every flag station in the country until the Deputy Minister is laid to rest.

Deputy Minister Hlongwa will be laid to rest on Saturday, 21 September 2019. The funeral service will take place at the Durban International Convention Centre (ICC). The service starts at 08h00 and it is open to the members of the public.

South Africans are invited to pay their respects to the late Deputy Minister by signing the condolence books which are placed at the following sites: Union Buildings and the Hlongwa family home at 307 Bartley Road, Umbilo, and Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

Ms Hlongwa was appointed as Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy with effect from 30 May 2019. In May 2017, she was appointed as the Executive Deputy Chairperson of the Board of the National Youth Development Agency.

Ms Hlongwa was exposed to leadership positions since 1999 and has served on the Local Community Development Committee. In 2011, she was elected into the South African Institute of Chemical Engineers at the KZN Branch, where she served as a Treasurer in 2013.

She studied at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Howard College where she obtained her Bachelors of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering. She started her career at the Shell Downstream SA.

Government thanks South Africans and the international community for their support and messages of comfort to the family and friends of the late Deputy Minister Hlongwa.

Issued by Government Communication and Information System