South African ruling ANC deputy secretary general and veteran anti-apartheid activist Yasmin “Jessie” Duarte died in the early hours of Sunday morning after a lengthy battle with cancer..

Duarte (68), who had been a political activist since her teenage years, had been forced to leave her party work late last November due to the severity of her illness and had been on medical leave.

Duarte was a lifelong political activist and a former politician and diplomat who had risen to the top of the governing party’s leadership in 2012.

Family spokesperson Zane Dangor confirmed Duarte’s death early on Sunday, saying that she had fought bravely against the disease, to which she had finally succumbed.

She will be buried on Sunday afternoon.

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