Makhenkesi Stofile, South African politician and diplomat, Died at 71

  Politician

Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile was born on December 27, 1944, in Adelaide in the Eastern Cape and died on August 15, 2016.
He was a South African politician.
Stofile was Minister of Sport and Recreation from 2004 to 2010.
Prior to his death, he was serving as Ambassador to Germany.
Stofile studied towards a master’s degree in Theology at the University of Fort Hare, and he also obtained a Master of Arts from Princeton University in 1983.
He joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1963.
Makhenkesi was charged with harbouring of terrorists by the Ciskei government and served a three-year jail sentence.
Makhenkesi was also an ordained minister of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa
He was not only a politician and church man, also a great sportsman.
Makhenkesi played scrum-half and wing for the Border Rugby team and was a loud voice in the campaign towards non-racial sports.
During 1984, Makhenkesi travelled to New Zealand where he led a successful campaign against the planned All Blacks’ tour of South Africa.
Following the 1994 democratic elections, Stofile was the ANC’s chief whip in parliament.
Makhenkesi held that position until his appointment as Premier of the Eastern Cape in 1997.
During 2009, Makhenkesi threatened third world war over gender test results of an athlete, which found that runner Caster Semenya was a hermaphrodite, with internal testes.
Makhenkesi Stofile passed away at 71 years old.