David Mabuza, a former deputy president of South Africa from the African National Congress party, died Thursday at age 64, the party said.
Mabuza served one term as the deputy president of the country from 2018 to 2023 and as the deputy president of the African National Congress, or ANC, from 2017 to 2022.
His cause of death was not immediately reported, but local media said that he died in hospital.
Mabuza’s political support was critical for current President Cyril Ramaphosa to win the presidency of the ANC at the party’s elective conference in 2017, and for Ramaphosa subsequently to become South Africa’s leader.
Mabuza served as Ramaphosa’s deputy and quietly left the political scene after he resigned in 2023, surfacing again to campaign for the party in the country’s elections last year.
He was also the provincial head of the country’s Mpumalanga province from 2009 to 2018.
“Comrade Mabuza dedicated his life to the service of the people of South Africa,” ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said in a statement.
“From his days in the struggle against apartheid to his leadership as Premier of Mpumalanga and later as Deputy President, he was a committed cadre who carried the values of unity, discipline, and transformation,” the statement said.
David Dabede Mabuza (25 August 1960 – 3 July 2025) was a South African politician who served as deputy president of South Africa from February 2018 to February 2023. He was the deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC) from December 2017 to December 2022 and was previously the premier of Mpumalanga from 2009 to 2018, throughout the presidency of his onetime political ally Jacob Zuma. Mabuza served as a Member of Parliament from 2018 until his resignation in 2023.
On 26 February 2018, he was appointed Deputy President of South Africa by Ramaphosa, who had replaced Zuma following his resignation. Mabuza was sworn in the following day and was also sworn in as a Member of the National Assembly in order to take up the position. On 20 March, Mabuza gave his maiden speech in Parliament and for the first time responded to questions from other Members of Parliament. On 21 March, he addressed the national Human Rights Day commemoration in Sharpeville while Ramaphosa was abroad.
When Ramaphosa was re-elected to a full term as President after the 2019 general election, Mabuza was re-appointed as Deputy President. On that occasion, his swearing in was delayed as he sought to address allegations – made in a report of the ANC’s internal Integrity Commission – that he was one of a list of ANC leaders who had brought the ANC into disrepute. Among other responsibilities, Mabuza was Leader of Government Business in Parliament, the head of the South African National AIDS Council, the head of the National Human Resource Development Council, and the patron of the Moral Regeneration Movement. He also chairs two cabinet subcommittees, one on governance and state capacity and one on justice and security. The policy priorities delegated to him by President Ramaphosa include land reform, anti-poverty initiatives, and rural and township economic empowerment.
After being succeeded by Mashatile as deputy president of the ANC, it was reported on 27 January 2023 that Mabuza had offered to resign as deputy president of the country to make way for Mashatile to take up the position. Mabuza confirmed at his brother’s funeral on 4 February that he had informed Ramaphosa of his decision to step down. Ramaphosa asked Mabuza to remain in the position until the transition processes had been concluded.
On 1 March 2023, it was revealed that Mabuza had resigned as a Member of Parliament the previous day, ending his tenure as deputy president of South Africa.
In 2014, Mabuza established the DD Mabuza Foundation. Its priorities are education and the social upliftment of vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.
Mabuza was married to Nonhlanhla Patience Mnisi, a real estate agent at Pam Golding. According to the Independent Online, he was formerly married to Ruthi Funi Silinda; Silinda is referred to elsewhere as his customary ex-wife or former fiancée, and they had a child together. Mabuza died on 3 July 2025 in Sandton.
Global African Times extends hearty condolences to the family of the deceased former Deputy President.
Additional Source: Africa News
