Former premier of North West dies – Maroela Media

Bushy Maape (Foto: North West Provincial Government, Facebook)

Bushy Maape, former premier of the North West and ANC veteran, died on Saturday at the age of 68 after a short illness in Johannesburg.

The exact cause of his death is not known.

Maape served as premier of the North West from 2021 to 2024 – a particularly difficult time after the provincial government of the North West was placed under administration in 2018.

Maape, a former political prisoner from Robben Island, also served in other leadership roles before his premiership including chairman of the ANC in the Kgalagadi region and a senior government official in the North West.

Mahlengi Bhengu, the ANC’s national spokesperson, says Maape served the ANC with discipline, humility and unwavering commitment throughout his life.

Maape was recruited into the underground structures of the ANC during the apartheid era and then became an agent within the liberation movement. “In 1986 he was imprisoned for his political activities and detained on Robben Island, where he continued his education and intellectual development despite the harsh conditions of apartheid imprisonment.”

Maape especially believed in empowering communities with education, according to Bhengu.

“His life remains a testament to a generation of cadres who sacrificed greatly for freedom, democracy, education and development in South Africa, yet are not in formal leadership structures. May his revolutionary soul rest in eternal peace.”