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The Congress of South African Trade Unions is shocked and deeply saddened by the passing of Comrade Kader Asmal and sends its condolences to his family, friends and thousands of comrades in the national liberation movement.

Comrade Asmal was one of the finest leaders South Africa has produced – a profound thinker and intellectual but also a dogged fighter for the values of the revolutionary movement.

In his years of exile, in his years serving in the ANC government, and to the very last days of his life, he spoke out with passion and conviction about the important challenges we face, and always fearlessly spoke the truth and defended his deeply held convictions.

As his years as a government minister proved, he was not an armchair intellectual, but a comrade who was ready to get his hands dirty grappling with the formidable and complex challenges facing the democratic government in a range of fields, from education to water affairs and the constitution.

Comrade Asmal was from the generation of ANC leaders who lived only to serve the movement and the people of South Africa and never sought to advance his own interests. We must honour his memory by aspiring to live by the very high standards he set for himself and his comrades. COSATU dips its banners in tribute to a great revolutionary fighter.