Roy Padayachie

Throughout that time he was prominent in civic and political activism in Durban; as an anti-apartheid activist, he served in leadership positions in the Natal Indian Congress and United Democratic Front.

Padayachie joined the National Assembly in the April 2004 general election and served as Deputy Minister of Communications until May 2009 under Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe.

[1] His great-grandfather was a Tamil emigrant from the village of Ooramangalam near Chennai; his grandparents were born in Mauritius and his parents in South Africa.

[3] During the negotiations to end apartheid, Padayachie was a member of the ANC's Natal delegation to the Convention for a Democratic South Africa.

[6] At the same time, he was a member of the policy advisory group on the establishment of the National Development Agency,[3] and he also served as the spokesperson for the Community Distress Committee formed in the aftermath of the 2000 Throb nightclub disaster in Chatsworth.

[8] The Mail & Guardian referred to him as "the great unknown" among Mbeki's new appointments, given his relative paucity of experience in frontline politics.

[5] He served in the deputy ministerial portfolio throughout the Third Parliament, gaining re-appointment when Kgalema Motlanthe replaced Mbeki in a midterm presidential election.

[11] His return to the Ministry of Communications was generally welcomed in the private sector,[12][13] and the Mail & Guardian noted that, with his prior experience in the portfolio, he was prepared to "hit the ground running".

[5] Even before he was sworn in to the ministry, he told press that his priority would be "to intervene on the issue of the SABC board because the people deserve a public broadcaster that is functioning".

[15] Within three weeks in office, he withdrew the draft Public Service Broadcasting Bill from Parliament, pending a policy review and further consultation; the move was welcomed both by Media Monitoring Africa and by the opposition Democratic Alliance.

In early 2012 he announced that, in the following year, his department would seek to put in place a framework for the establishment of a single public service.

[29] The funeral was held on 9 May at Sahara Kingsmead Stadium in Durban; the eulogy was delivered by President Zuma, who had known him since they met in the anti-apartheid movement in December 1973.