"We mourn the passing of a veteran of our struggle," President Ramaphosa said, citing Mr Pahad's contribution to South African democracy.

"Security crackdowns, banning and exile shaped Essop Pahad’s contribution over decades to our struggle and, as Parliamentary Counsellor to President Thabo Mbeki and Minister in the Presidency, to the early design and impact of our democratic state."

Mr Pahad is described as "a thinker and strategist" who first started his political revolutionary journey 65 years ago, when he became a member of the Transvaal Indian Congress, which fought against white-minority rule.

He later joined the ANC, the party of President Ramaphosa, and was arrested and then exiled in the 1960s for his activism.

However, he continued his political activities for the then-banned ANC.

He returned to South Africa in 1990 - the same year the country's ban on the ANC was lifted and the start of the decade that saw the lifting of apartheid and introduction of a democratic government.

Mr Pahad later served as Minister in the Presidency while former President Thabo Mbeki was in office from 1999 to 2008.