Deputy health minister Molefi Sefularo has died in a car accident west of Pretoria on Monday, the ANC said.

"He was a very good man, a good leader, a good minister and a good deployee of the ANC. We have lost a caring person who lived and dreamt of how to make health care accessible to all," ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said.

In 1994, Sefularo was appointed MEC for health in the North West  and was active in the ANC leadership in the province until his appointment as deputy minister of health in May 2009 under President Jacob Zuma's new administration.

He was a Member of Parliament since 2004 and a member of the African National Congress provincial executive committee.

The department of health website says Sefularo was a founder member of AZASO, a forerunner of the SA Students Congress.

He served on various parliamentary committees including trade and industry, transport, foreign affairs, and health. As part of the caucus, he served as a Whip for both the trade and industry and transport study groups.

Born in Potchefstroom in the North West in 1957, Sefularo obtained a medical degree from Medunsa and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town.