Bavumile Vilakazi

Bavumile Herbert Vilakazi (12 June 1955 – 21 April 2005) was a South African politician, diplomat and former anti-apartheid activist who was the inaugural Mayor of Ekurhuleni from 2000 to 2001. Before that, he represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2000.

During apartheid, Vilakazi was a member of the United Democratic Front and a defendant in the Delmas Treason Trial. He also served as leader of the Vaal Civic Association on the East Rand. From 2002 until his death in 2005, he served as South African High Commissioner to Uganda.

Early life and activism Vilakazi was born on 12 June 1955 in Evaton in the former Transvaal; he was the fifth of five brothers. His family was living in Sharpeville at the time of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, but they later moved to Residensia. As a young adult, he was a Sunday school teacher at the local African Methodist Episcopal Church, and in 1977 he was also elected president of the church's youth league.

Upon his release, he became the leader of the Vaal Civic Association. In that capacity, he led a protest march from Sebokeng to Vereeniging on 26 March 1990; in what became known as the Sebokeng massacre, the police opened fire on the crowd, killing at least thirteen people, while Vilakazi was addressing them. The massacre led the ANC to withdraw temporarily from the negotiations to end apartheid. Also in the early 1990s, he served as deputy provincial secretary of the ANC's Gauteng branch. He was re-elected in the 1999 general election and served the Gauteng constituency. He resigned from his seat on 6 December 2000, after the 2000 local elections, in which he was elected as the inaugural Mayor of the newly incorporated Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. His seat in Parliament was filled by Rita Ndzanga. He died of a heart attack in Kampala, Uganda on 21 April 2005, shortly after receiving Deputy President Jacob Zuma at the Kampala Airport. The M2–N3 interchange in Germiston, formerly known as the Geldenhuys Interchange, was renamed after him in 2021.

Personal life At the time of the Delmas Treason Trial, Vilakazi was married and had a toddler.