Buffalo City mayor Xola Pakati has confirmed the death of speaker Alfred Mtsi from Covid-19 complications.

Mtsi died on Sunday morning at Life Beacon Bay Hospital in East London hospital, DispatchLIVE reported. He was hospitalised on Tuesday night.

In a statement on Sunday morning, Pakati described Mtsi as a “humble, soft-spoken yet decisive and visionary leader”.

Mtsi is the third BCM ANC councillor to die this month after the deaths of Zukiswa Mankayi and Gideon Norexe.

Pakati described Mtsi's death as a blow to the metro and the Eastern Cape.

“This is extremely depressing and devastating for me. We were highly bonded with comrade Mtsi in ways unimaginable and it seems that fate and the allocation of tasks in the people’s movement always reinforced this in an intriguing manner.

“We served together throughout our activism years until this moment.

“We have really lost as a city. We have lost a comrade, a friend and a father figure for virtually all of us. Comrade Mtsi was an anchor pillar for sanity when tempers were high, and he provided wisdom when strong viewpoints clashed.

“He led with the wisdom of Solomon, solving complex discussions and keeping our council intact in difficult times,” Pakati said.

“We are extremely devastated by this loss. When we feel like this as colleagues, we cannot even imagine the pain that is being felt by the family. We once more send our condolences to the Mtsi family, his friends and comrades. Sithi thuthuzelekani.”