David Mabuza, a former South African deputy president, has died at age 64, his party says

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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — 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.