South African (SA) President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his sadness at the passing of the last surviving signatory of the Freedom Charter and Accused number four in the 1956 Treason Trial Leon Levy.

The 96 year old member of the SA Congress of Trade Union and the Communist Party of SA passed on in Western Cape Province, Cape Town on Monday.

The other five signatories of the Charter included then African National Congress President Chief Albert Luthuli, Jimmy La Guma of the SA Coloured People’s Congress, Monty Naicker of the Natal Indian Congress and Pieter Beyleveld of the Congress of Democrats.

He was arrested in 1956 and charged for treason together with his brother, Norman.

Presidential Spokesperson Vincent Magenya: Ramaphosa finds the passing of Levy as a sad moment for us as fellow human beings. It is particularly sad for us as citizens of SA attained freedom from apartheid through the hard and sacrificial activism of Levy and those who were in the trenches with him, including his brother, Norman. Levy was part of a generation whose contributions to a better life and a better world for all SA citizens and humanity globally must never be forgotten or dishonoured.”

–SABC–