KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Mr Willies Mchunu, has announced, with deep sadness, the passing away of the Community Safety and Liaison Head of Department, Mr Ronnie Vusumuzi Bhengu.
Mr Bhengu, who according to MEC Mchunu has been suffering from cancer, passed away last night from 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria, where as a former MK combatant, was hospitalised.
A saddened MEC Mchunu announced these news to the KwaZulu-Natal Community Safety and Liaison Portfolio meeting in Ulundi today.
MEC Mchunu told the committee that Mr Bhengu had, in the past years, been attached by a cancerous problem.
"At the time it was diagnosed, it was already at advanced stage. When I consulted colleagues in the medical fraternity, they did indicate that we should expect the worse at this was a very difficult stage," said MEC Mchunu.
MEC Mchunu said Mr Bhengu had been in and out of hospital and last week, as veteran MK combatant, was admitted at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria.
"Last night at around 8h00, I received a call that he had passed on. It is difficult and a sad thing. But it was unavoidable," said MEC Mchunu.
MEC Mchunu said he was in constant liaison with the family but the date of the funeral had not been finalised. He announced he had formed a task team involving senior staff of the department and family to final all arrangements.
MEC Mchunu thanked the staff of the department for their "diligence" and support during the illness of Mr Bhengu and urged them to carry on.
Mr Bhengu, former MK combatant who also served in the secret service after 1994, was appointed Head of Department in September 2011.
Mr Bhengu was born in Chesterville, west of Durban, in 1959, matriculating at Hlahlindlela High School in Hillcrest. He had a stint at the University of Zululand as a law student before 'crossing' into exile via Botswana in 1980.
He had a basic military training in Zambia before going for a full military course in Angola. Mr Bhengu later moved to Bulgaria, where he obtained a Master of Art in Pedagogics from the University of Sofia. He also has qualifications in project management from Ede, in the Netherlands.
Mr Bhengu returned to South Africa in 1991, in the process holding a number of key posts, including co-managing an R80 million Kagiso Bursary Fund in Cape Town. In 2001, Bhengu joined the SA Secret Service, working in South Africa, Geneva and Cuba.
As the HOD, Mr Bhengu has been credited for placing communities at the centre of crime-fighting the programme of Building A United Front Against Crime.
Media contact:
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E-mail: Sipho.khumalo@comsafety.gov.za
