The South African Communist Party (SACP) has hailed Struggle veteran Mfengu Makhalima as a "great revolutionary" following his death on Thursday.

The SACP in a statement confirmed that Makhalima, 81, died after being hospitalised for some time. 

"South Africa has lost a profoundly selfless revolutionary," read the SACP statement. He was a member of the SACP, ANC and founding member of Umkhonto weSizwe (MK).

"Makhalima was thus a product of the struggles of the people against the oppressive and exploitative regimes in South Africa."

After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Makhalima was among the first generation to join and build MK the following year. By this time the Communist Party, which he joined in 1959, had already established military combat work units. 

"The ANC, the Alliance, the working class and South Africans as a whole need to unite in pursuit of peace, stability and shared prosperity, in memory of our revolutionary stalwart, working class and national hero, the people’s combatant, Tata Mfengu ‘Ndlovu’ Makhalima," the statement further read.

In paying tribute, the SACP continued: "Makhalima played a central role in rebuilding the structures of the SACP and ANC after the hard-won unbanning in 1990. He was elected a member of the first ANC Executive Committee in the Border Region of the Eastern Cape and SACP Border District Chairperson." 

Following the democratic breakthrough of April 1994 and the election of the ANC as a majority and governing party, Makhalima served as a member of the provincial legislature in the Eastern Cape. He was elected as the first ANC Chief Whip of the Eastern Cape provincial legislature and served in this capacity from 1994 to 1999.

Makhalima is survived by his wife Siziwe Sawule-Makhalima and daughters Nozuko, Nobahle and Vuyolwethu, as well as five grandchildren.