Sebetso a role model to the young: GCIS

2011-05-09 18:04

Johannesburg - Senior SABC journalist Kgomotso Sebetso was a role model to younger journalists and would be greatly missed, the Government Communications and Information System (GCIS) said on Monday.

"Mr Sebetso... was a profoundly dignified man and a professional," spokesperson Jimmy Manyi said, following the death of the 44-year-old journalist in a car accident.

"He would be greatly missed and remembered for his dedication and commitment to his work."

Sebetso's car crashed into a truck on Sunday evening, the SABC news website reported. He had been visiting his mother in Ga-Rankuwa for Mother's Day. He was taken to hospital in a serious condition and died early on Monday morning.

The ANC said it was "saddened" by the news of Sebetso's death, adding the SABC and the country had lost one of its "most dedicated" journalists.

Party spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said: "Highly-skilled and well-travelled, Sebetso was a political journalist of high calibre who covered many important political assignments here and abroad with utmost distinction.

"[He] will be remembered for upholding journalistic integrity and ethics during the many years he covered the country's transition from apartheid to constitutional democracy," he said.

The presidency said Sebetso, who was part of the SABC team that covered the country's highest office, always conducted himself professionally.

"He took his task of imparting information and knowledge to South Africans and beyond very seriously," President Jacob Zuma's spokesperson Zanele Mngadi said in a statement.

"As the presidency, we will miss his efficiency and his thoroughness; we will miss his affability as well as his dedication to his country and its people. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and his colleagues at the SABC."

- SAPA