Radhakrishna Lutchmana "Roy" Padayachie (1 May 1950 – 5 May 2012) was a South African politician and activist. He was acabinet minister between November 2010 and his death in May 2012. At the same time he represented theAfrican National Congress (ANC) in theNational Assembly between April 2004 and May 2012.

Born and raised inDurban, Padayachie worked as a chemist from 1974 to 1980, as a community organiser inChatsworth from 1980 to 1999, and as a business consultant from 1999 to 2004. Throughout that time he was prominent in civic and political activism in Durban; as ananti-apartheid activist, he served in leadership positions in theNatal Indian Congress andUnited Democratic Front. He joined the ANC underground in 1972.

Padayachie joined the National Assembly in theApril 2004 general election and served asDeputy Minister of Communications until May 2009 under PresidentsThabo Mbeki andKgalema Motlanthe. Under PresidentJacob Zuma, he served asDeputy Minister of Public Service and Administration from May 2009 to October 2010 before being elevated toZuma's cabinet. He wasMinister of Communications from November 2010 to October 2011 and then wasMinister of Public Service and Administration from October 2011 to May 2012. He died in office on an official visit toAddis Ababa.

Padayachie was born on 1 May 1950 in Clairwood on the outskirts ofDurban in the formerNatal Province.^[1] His great-grandfather was aTamil emigrant from the village of Ooramangalam nearChennai; his grandparents were born in Mauritius and his parents in South Africa.^[2]

Classified asIndian underapartheid, he attended the Tagore High School in Clairwood and went on to theUniversity of Durban–Westville, where he completed a Bachelor of Science.^[1] He later completed a Master of Science at theUniversity of London.^[3]

Between 1974 and 1980, Padayachie worked as achemist: he was a formulations chemist at paint company Plascon Evans until 1976, then amicrobiologist atReckitt and Colman until 1979, and finally aresearch chemist atShell Chemical until 1980.^[3] Between 1980 and 1999 he worked in community development and organising,^[3] primarily in the Durban suburb ofChatsworth, where he established the Chatsworth Early Learning Centre.^[4]

Meanwhile, he was a prominent figure in theanti-apartheid movement in Natal, particularly in theNatal Indian Congress, where he served in the executive leadership. He joined the underground of theAfrican National Congress (ANC) in 1972.^[3][5] He was also active in the Housing Action Committee in Chatsworth and the Residents' Association in Croftdene,^[4] and after theUnited Democratic Front was formed in 1983 he joined its provincial executive committee in Natal.^[3]

During thenegotiations to end apartheid, Padayachie was a member of the ANC's Natal delegation to theConvention for a Democratic South Africa.^[3][1] After thefirst democratic elections in 1994, he started a business consultancy, advising small, medium and micro enterprises. He continued that business until he was appointed to government in 2004.^[3] By 2004 he had interests in a number of companies.^[6] At the same time, he was a member of the policy advisory group on the establishment of theNational Development Agency,^[3] and he also served as the spokesperson for the Community Distress Committee formed in the aftermath of the 2000Throb nightclub disaster in Chatsworth.^[7]

In theApril 2004 general election, Padayachie was elected to represent the ANC in theNational Assembly, the lower house of theSouth African Parliament. In the aftermath of the election, PresidentThabo Mbeki appointed Padayachie asDeputy Minister of Communications under MinisterIvy Matsepe-Casaburri.^[8]

TheMail & Guardian referred to him as "the great unknown" among Mbeki's new appointments, given his relative paucity of experience in frontline politics.^[7] Indeed, Minister Matsepe-Casaburri reportedly did not recognise his full name in the cabinet announcement; he had to be re-introduced as comrade Roy.^[5] He served in the deputy ministerial portfolio throughout theThird Parliament, gaining re-appointment whenKgalema Motlanthe replaced Mbeki ina midterm presidential election.^[9]

Padayachie was re-elected to the National Assembly in theApril 2009 general election. Announcinghis first-term cabinet on 10 May, PresidentJacob Zuma moved Padayachie to the post ofDeputy Minister of Public Service and Administration, in which capacity he deputised MinisterRichard Baloyi.^[10] As in his prior position, he "played a background role" in the ministry.^[5]

Padayachie was in the Ministry of Public Service and Administration for less than two years before Zuma promoted him to the cabinet in a reshuffle on 31 October 2010. He replacedSiphiwe Nyanda asMinister of Communications, withObed Bapela as his deputy.^[11] His return to the Ministry of Communications was generally welcomed in the private sector,^[12][13] and theMail & Guardian noted that, with his prior experience in the portfolio, he was prepared to "hit the ground running".^[5] Even before he was sworn in to the ministry, he told press that his priority would be "to intervene on the issue of theSABC board because the people deserve a public broadcaster that is functioning".^[14]

Upon taking office, Padayachie's first task was to appoint a new director-general in theDepartment of Communications, as the incumbent had been sacked by his predecessor.^[15] Within three weeks in office, he withdrew the draft Public Service Broadcasting Bill from Parliament, pending a policy review and further consultation; the move was welcomed both by Media Monitoring Africa and by the oppositionDemocratic Alliance.^[16] In the next two months he announced that South Africa would adopt theDVB-T2 digital television standard, complete itsdigital migration by December 2012, and completeTelkom'slocal loop unbundling by November 2012,^[17][18] though neither of the latter targets were met.^[1] Padayachie nonetheless remained well respected in the communications industry.^[19]

In July 2011, Padayachie was accused of undue political interference in the governance of the SABC after he called a shareholders' meeting to encourage the board to amend the SABC'sarticles of association. The amendments allowed the board to appoint any SABC employee to top management positions, facilitating the appointment of the SABC's head of news,Phil Molefe, as acting chief executive officer. Board member Peter Harris resigned in protest of the intervention.^[20][21] Padayachie said that the intervention was not intended to facilitate Molefe's appointment but conversely was intended to give the board greater discretion in choosing among potential candidates for the top job.^[22][23]

After Padayachie's death, media and public inquiries unearthed indications thatZuma's presidency was characterised by thecapture of certain state institutions by Zuma's allies in theGupta family. In September 2018, in a front-page story, theSunday Times printed the hypothesis that Padayachie had been appointed to the Ministry of Communications in order to facilitate the Guptas' access to the communications sector, particularly the SABC. Padayachie's predecessor, Siphiwe Nyanda, said that he had been fired from the post after he refused to meet with the Guptas. and the newspaper said that as minister Padayachie had "given special recognition" to the Guptas and their company,Sahara Computers.^[24] Calling Padayachie "a close ally" of the Gupta family, the newspaper also claimed that it was under Padayachie thatHlaudi Motsoeneng, a notorious Gupta supporter, had begun his ascent at the SABC and had signed favourable contracts between the SABC and the Guptas'New Age newspaper.^[24]

Notwithstanding the lack of conclusive evidence against Padayachie, theSunday Times story was met with disappointment from Padayachie's supporters.^[25][26]

Less than a year after Padayachie's appointment to the Ministry of Communications, Zuma announced another reshuffle on 24 October 2011. Padayachie was appointed asMinister of Public Service and Administration, replacing his former boss, Richard Baloyi.^[27] His deputy wasAyanda Dlodlo. In early 2012 he announced that, in the following year, his department would seek to put in place a framework for the establishment of a single public service.^[28]

On 4 May 2012, Padayachie died of aheart attack in a hotel room inAddis Ababa, Ethiopia.^[29][30] He had been in Ethiopia on official business, attending a high-level meeting on theAfrican Peer Review Mechanism.^[31] The Presidency announced that he would have a category-one official funeral.^[29] The funeral was held on 9 May atSahara Kingsmead Stadium in Durban; the eulogy was delivered by President Zuma, who had known him since they met in the anti-apartheid movement in December 1973.^[32][33] His remains were cremated at Clare Estate in Durban.^[34]

He was married to Sally Padayachie, whom he had spoken to on the telephone shortly before his death,^[35] and he had two daughters.^[32]

• Radhakrishna Lutchmana Padayachie at South African Government Information
• Motion of condolence in the National Assembly
• Zuma with the Padayachie family atFlickr

• 1950 births
• 2012 deaths
• African National Congress politicians
• Alumni of the University of London
• Communications ministers of South Africa
• Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2004–2009
• Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014
• Natal Indian Congress politicians
• Politicians from Durban
• South African anti-apartheid activists
• South African people of Tamil descent
• South African people of Mauritian descent
• University of Durban-Westville alumni

• Articles with short description
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• Use dmy dates from April 2022