THE deputy national chairperson of the UDM and MPL in the
Eastern Cape, Mncedisi Filtane, died of COVID-19 this morning (Sunday).
United Democratic Movement president, Bantu Holomisa,
announced the tragic news on Twitter just after 08:00 today. According to
Holomisa, Filtane was admitted to hospital on Friday with low oxygen levels and
died in the early hours of this morning. “We have lost a gentleman and a
father,” Holomisa wrote in his post.
“We are terribly shocked by this loss as we now try to
console the Filtane family. We at this time extend our sympathies to his wife,
children and family as we gather them in our thoughts and prayers. May his soul
rest in peace,” Holomisa concluded.
Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, also expressed his
shock at Filtane’s passing. “He was indeed a gentleman and passionate
politician. He was very articulate and unrepentant in his belief for social
justice. Condolences to his family and the UDM,” Mbalula said.
Filtane’s death follows only two days after Nelson Mandela Bay
councillor and former mayor, the UDM’s Mongameli Bobani, was laid to rest.
Bobani succumbed to COVID-19 on November 11 after three weeks on a ventilator
in hospital. His funeral was held at the Feather Market Hall in Nelson Mandela Bay on November 20.
