Shiceka spent most of his Ministerial career embroiled in scandal or on sick leave.

Troubled former South African Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka, passed away in an Eastern Cape hospital this morning after a long illness, according to an ANC press release.

He had been on sick leave since February last year, and was officially dismissed by the President in the October 2011 cabinet reshuffle after a spending scandal was uncovered by Public Prosecutor Thuli Madonsela, implicating Shiceka and other Ministers.

Shiceka was accused of misappropriating over R1 million in public funds to pay for overseas trips for himself, his family and friends. Madonsela found that Shiceka had acted unlawfully and dishonestly, abused public funds and contravened both the ethics code for executive members of government and the Constitution. Her report was handed to the Ethics Committee in Parliament, but no further action was taken.

Other than serving as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs until last year, Shiceka also served as Minister of Provincial and Local Government under President Kgalema Motlanthe from 2008, as well as on several Parliamentary and ANC committees while an MP. He remained an MP until he passed away.

Born on 8 June 1966, Shiceka joined several anti-apartheid movements in the 1980s, including the Congress of South African Students in Soweto in 1980, and the Azanian Students Organisation in 1987, and was also senior in several trade unions, including COSATU by the 1990s. After the transition he served on the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in 1996, and was eventually voted onto the ANC’s National Executive Committee in 2007.

[Source: Mail & Guardian, IOL, Image: Sunday World]