Daily Sun (March 16 2015) - ON SATURDAY afternoon Collins Chabane spoke at the funeral of Chief Magona Nxumalo.
Late on Saturday night Chabane left to go home to his family.
HE COULD NOT HAVE KNOWN THAT THIS JOURNEY WOULD BE HIS LAST.
In the early hours of yesterday morning, his vehicle slammed into the side of a truck that was making a U-turn on the N1 highway between Mokopane and Polokwane.
Chabane and the two people in the car, his bodyguard and driver, were killed instantly. The men were Sergeant Lesiba Sekele and Sergeant Lawrence Lentsoane. Yesterday morning family members, including his son Percy, visited the scene of the accident.
Visibly shocked, Mosa Chabane was clearly struggling to come to terms with the death of his uncle.
"Thank you for the condolences," said Mosa, the provincial leader of the ANC Youth
League in Limpopo.
Percy was too upset to speak to the media.
As Minister of Public Service and Administration, Chabane's last public function was as the main speaker at the funeral of the former Gazankulu homeland Prime Minister, Chief Nxumalo. This was in Magona Village outside Malamulele, Limpopo.
Chabane, born in 1960 in Xikundu Village, Limpopo was still a teenager when he joined the ANC in 1977. He went into exile in May 1980 when he joined Umkhonto we Sizwe. He went to Angola for military training in 1980 and began work underground in 1981.
He was sentenced to six years imprisonment at the same time as Tokyo Sexwale, Kgalema Mothlanthe, Mosiuoa Lekota and Popo Molefe.
In prison he obtained a diploma in electrical engineering and learnt to play the harmonica from Bafana Sithole.
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said Chabane had made an immeasurable contribution to the policy-making processes of the ANC.
"Comrade Collins' passing leaves a huge void in the ANC and government. He was a true servant of the people," he said.
"We have lost a loyal, dedicated and most disciplined member of the ANC."
Police spokeswoman Colonel Ronel Otto said the truck driver was not injured.
He will be appearing in court soon on a charge of culpable homicide.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the driver has two pending cases, including drunk driving, in Ivory Park and Giyani.
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