Addis Ababa (Alshahid)- A South African Cabinet minister died while attending an African Union meeting in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian government said Saturday.

South Africa’s Public Service and Administration Minister Padayachie, 62, collapsed at Addis Ababa airport Friday and died later in the Sheraton hotel, Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Dina Muti said.

Padayachie had been moved from minister of communications to minister for public service and administration in October in a Cabinet shuffle that became necessary after other ministers were caught up in corruption scandals.

President Jacob Zuma’s governing African National Congress called Padayachie a veteran member “whose life was defined by his continued activism and his work amongst the poorest of our communities.”

A long-serving ANC stalwart, he joined the movement in 1992. With a BSc from the University of Durban-Westville and an MSc from the University of London, Padayachie worked as a microbiologist and chemist in his early career.

The burial would take place in Durban on Wednesday, and South Africa’s national flags would be flown at half mast from Monday in honour of Padayachie.