President Cyril Ramaphosa has lauded Leon Levy, South Africa’s last surviving signatory of the historic Freedom Charter, following news of his passing at the age of 96.

Levy joined South Africa’s Communist Party at the age of 24, after which he became leader of the South African Congress of Trade Unions.

Levy, who was accused number four in the Treason Trial in 1956, was one of the organisers of the Congress of the People which adopted the Freedom Charter on June 26, 1955, alongside signatories such as African National Congress president Chief Albert Luthuli, Jimmy La Guma of the South African Coloured People's Congress, Monty Naicker of the Natal Indian Congress and Pieter Beyleveld of the Congress of Democrats.

Ramaphosa expressed his condolences to Levy’s family and friends and also noted the struggle contributions of Levy’s twin brother, Norman, who passed away in July 2021.

Both brothers were arrested in 1956 and charged with high treason. Norman was discharged and Leon was acquitted in 1961.

He went into exile in England, where he was joined by his brother.

“As we mark 70 years since the Treason Trial of 1956, we are obliged to pay tribute to the cohort of leaders and other activists who fought the apartheid state based on their belief in the inherent equality and dignity of all people. Leon Levy attached his signature to the Freedom Charter that lives on in our Constitution whose 30th anniversary we observe as well in 2026. Leon Levy was part of a generation whose contributions to a better life and a better world for all South Africans and humanity globally must never be forgotten or dishonoured,” the Presidency said in a statement.