12 Facts About Essop Pahad

Essop Goolam Pahad was a South African politician.

Essop Pahad served as the Minister in the Presidency from 1999 to 2008, and was a close ally of Thabo Mbeki.

Essop Pahad started his academic career with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science at Wits.

In 1962, Essop Pahad was arrested for organising an illegal strike, following the banning of the African National Congress.

In December 1964, Essop Pahad was banned for five years and went into exile.

Essop Pahad represented the SACP on the editorial council for the World Marxist Review.

Essop Pahad was appointed the Minister in the Presidency after the 1999 general election.

Essop Pahad was involved in raising R1.55 million from corporate sponsors to hire Ronald Suresh Roberts to write a biography of then President Mbeki.

Essop Pahad was a member of the Organising Committee of the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa, and claimed in 2008 that South African whites wanted the event to be a failure.

Essop Pahad was filmed attending the wedding of Vega Gupta and Aakash Jahajgarhia an event which sparked the so-called Guptagate scandal in South Africa.

Essop Pahad died of cancer on 6 July 2023, at the age of 84, and his funeral was attended by a number of high profile ANC figures, including Acting President of South Africa Paul Mashatile.

Essop Pahad was buried alongside Jessie Duarte and Ebrahim Ebrahim.