Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Advocate Rodney De Kock has died.
He succumbed to cancer at Morningside Mediclinic in Johannesburg on Monday night, surrounded by family and friends.
In a statement released by his family on Tuesday morning, they said he was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer early in December last year.
This resulted in his health rapidly declining.
De Kock, a seasoned advocate, and officer of the court had a distinguished career in private practice, the training, and mentoring of young legal practitioners, and in the management of the prosecutorial services in the country.
He articled at Wilkinson Joshua and Gihwalla in 1983, where he became a partner.
Thereafter, he went on to serve as Head of the Legal Aid Board Clinic at the University of Cape Town from 1994 to 1999.
Family spokesman, Nazeem Mahatey, said De Kock was a founding member and served on the executive of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL) established in 1987 under the leadership of renowned Cape Town lawyer and later the first Minister of Justice in a democratic South Africa, the late former Minister Dullah Omar, and the esteemed late Chief Justice Pius Langa and many others.
He served as a Presiding Officer in the Electoral Court in 1994 and in 1997 he was appointed by the Minister of Justice, as a member of the Legal Aid Task Team which drafted the country’s National Public Defender Model.
De Kock was the first black person to be appointed an Attorney General in the country when he took up the post of Attorney General of the Western Cape in 1999, after which he joined the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) as
Director of Public Prosecutions for the Western Cape in November 2003.
"After a luminary career, marked by an uncompromising dedication to justice, the democratic order, and to his fellow citizens, his family and friends take great solace in knowing that Rodney served his country with unblemished integrity, dedication, honesty, and humility.
"He was a devoted father to his children, Ryan and Samantha, whom he loved and cherished dearly.
"The De Kock family takes much comfort from the fact that their beloved father, brother, and elder, passed peacefully after a short but courageous battle. They are grateful for the time they have shared with him."
Outside of the legal arena, De Kock mastered the guitar and the saxophone.
The family said he was also a weekend motor mechanic and had a passion for spending time outdoors and in the company of good friends.
Funeral arrangements are underway, and details of the memorial and funeral service will be communicated in due course.
