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Preparations for the Special Official Funeral of the former Minister of Sport and Recreation and former Premier of the Eastern Cape Province, the late Reverend Arnold Makhenkesi Stofile, are at an advanced stage.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee on State Funerals, chaired by the Minister in the Presidency, Mr Jeff Radebe, is leading the planning and execution of the Special Official Funeral, working with the Eastern Cape Provincial Government.

Yesterday, the official Special Memorial Service was held for Reverend Stofile at the Abbortsford Christian Centre in East London, where tributes continued to pour in for the late South Africa’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany.

The Special Official Funeral will take place on Thursday, 25 August 2016, at the Sports Complex of the University of Fort Hare in Alice, where Reverend Stofile was a student, became a Lecturer and was later the University Chancellor until the time of his passing on Monday, 15 August 2016.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the eulogy at the funeral, replacing President Jacob Zuma, who will travel to Nairobi, in the Republic of Kenya to participate in the 6th Summit of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI).

President Zuma has once again extended his deepest condolences to the Stofile family.

Issued by the Presidency