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The Democratic Alliance (DA) was saddened to hear of the passing away this morning of Sicelo Shiceka, former Minister of Local Government in the cabinet of President Kgalema Mothlanthe and latterly Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in the current government.

On behalf of the DA, I would like to convey our sincere condolences to the entire Shiceka family, and to the larger body of his friends and colleagues who will miss him dearly. Our thoughts and our prayers are with his family in this time.

Mr. Shiceka dedicated his entire adult life to the pursuit of democracy in South Africa, and after the attainment of democracy in 1994 he continued to serve the country in government, even continuing to serve as a Member of Parliament during his illness. While we differed with him from time to time, we never underestimated the extent to which he loved South Africa and its people.

In Setswana there is a message of condolence that is our message to the Shiceka family today: ba lelapa la kwa Shicheka, le sa lele ja ka ba senang tshepo. Modimo keo.