During the early hours of Christmas Day, 25 December 2020, the life of Patrick Bayo Mkhize came full circle; marking both the birth and death date of this iconic trade unionist, and struggle and contemporary grassroots activist.
A 60-year-old black consciousness movement (BCM) stalwart, Mkhize succumbed to the Covid-19 virus, exacerbated by pneumonia, while hospitalised at Durban’s St Augustine’s Hospital. Mkhize was the serving general secretary of the Transport Retail and General Workers’ Union, an affiliate of the South African Federation of Trade Unions.
According to Mkhize’s daughter, Tracey Fared: “The Mkhize family would like to implore community members to remember our social obligation to our communities to protect and shield our elders and vulnerable members from the Covid-19 pandemic which is devastating our close-knit communities. We all have a social responsibility to practise social distancing, follow prescribed protocols and avoid risky behaviour that m