Former ANC member of Parliament Jannie Momberg has died at the age of 72, the Office of the ANC Chief Whip said on Friday.
Momberg, a veteran politician, experienced sports administrator and businessman, died last week and was scheduled to be buried in the Western Cape on Friday.
“Momberg served both the ANC and the country with selflessness and dedication in various capacities over the years,” it said in a statement.
“He is counted amongst those progressive Afrikaners who shunned racism and embraced the movement for the construction of a non-racial, united and prosperous South Africa.”
Momberg joined the ANC in 1992 after his resignation from the Democratic Party, which he had joined after serving the National Party since 1957.
He was elected onto the executive committee of the ANC Western Cape in 1992 and was among the first generation of the movement’s representatives in Parliament in 1994.
He served as the ANC House Whip and the chairman of the programming committee from 1994 to 2001.
Momberg also served in the parliamentary portfolio committees on home affairs, sports and recreation and ethics and members’ interests.
In 2001, he was appointed as the South African Ambassador to Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia-Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzogivina and Cyprus.
Between 2005 and 2006, he occupied the position of the Dean of African Group of Ambassadors.
“Due to his tireless effort and excellence in the promotion of diplomatic relations between South African and Greece, Momberg was awarded the Medal of the City of Athens by the mayor of that city,” it said.
As a respected sports administrator, Momberg led a number of athletics and cricket associations including as vice president of the South African Athletics Association and president of the Boland Cricket Union.
He was also involved in wine making for many years.
At the time of his death, Momberg was an executive trustee for the Macias Charitable Trust, which was responsible for feeding 300 orphans daily.
He married Trienie Steyn in 1964 and leaves behind four sons Niel, Steyn, Jannie, and Altus, and five grandchildren. — Sapa