Public Service and Administration Minister Collins Chabane died at the age of 54 in an car accident in Polokwane on Sunday morning.

Chabane was born in Xikundu Village, in Limpopo on April 15, 1960.

He attended Shingwedzi High School and in 1977 at the age of 17 he joined the African National Congress (ANC).

After school he registered for a BSc at Turfloop University, but in 1980 he went into exile and was later arrested.

He spent six years on Robben Island from 1984 to 1990. He was imprisoned at the same time as Tokyo Sexwale, Kgalema Motlanthe and Mosiuoa Lekota – all key figures in national politics.

While in prison, Chabane obtained his diploma in leadership and management from the Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership under the University of Limpopo. He also had a diploma in management from Esami in Arusha, Tanzania.

While he was on Robben Island, Chabane developed an interest in music and learnt music theory and how to play the harmonica.

After his release from prison Chabane served as provincial secretary of the ANC in the then Northern Province (now Limpopo) for eight years.

He was instrumental in the re-establishment of the party's structures in Limpopo, his home province.

Chabane was elected to Parliament in 1994 after the country's first democratic election and served on the constitutional affairs, defence and intelligence committees.

In 1997 Chabane was re-deployed to Limpopo where he served as public works MEC and was a member of the provincial legislature. He also served as the province's economic development , environment and tourism MEC in 2005.

At the ANC's 2007 elective conference in Polokwane Chabane was re-elected to the party's national executive committee.

In 2009, Chabane was appointed minister in the presidency responsible for performance monitoring and evaluation in President Jacob Zuma's first term of office.

After the 2014 general elections, Chabane was moved to the portfolio of public service minister.