Former labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana special official memorial service to take place at UWC

CAPE TOWN - The special official memorial service for former Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana will take place at University of the Western Cape (UWC) on Saturday.

Mdladlana died at the age of 72.

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He served in the first administration of the South Africa’s democratic government.

Mdladlana was appointed South Africa's labour minister in Nelson Mandela's Cabinet in 1994, a position he retained until 2009.

He was born in Keiskammahoek in the Eastern Cape on 12 May 1952.

Prior to his political career, Mdladlana was a teacher, having served at the Vukukhanye Primary School in Gugulethu between 1972 and 1981.

He was one of the founders of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU).

At the time of his death, he was serving as South African High Commissioner to Canada.