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Dr Siphiwo Stamper, Eastern Cape Health Department head, died at his King William's Town home.

Stamper, 51, collapsed while having lunch after a management meeting at his Bisho office. While he had a history of heart trouble, the official cause of death has not yet been established.

A saddened Health MEC Dr Bevan Goqwana said Stamper's untimely death had left a big vacuum in the department.

"He was a caring and loving person who would go out of his way to assist people whenever he could," said Goqwana.

"We made a great team because he was accommodating and willing to sacrifice his time for problems to be solved," he said.

The East London-born Stamper studied pharmacy at the University of the North before attending the Institute of Medical Sciences in Cuba. After graduating as a medical doctor in 1988, he worked in Tanzania for two years and later on at Umkhonto weSizwe camps in Tanzania and Uganda.

He returned to the country in 1992 and worked at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane before becoming the acting director of Ciskei Hospital Services in 1994.

Stamper is survived by his mother, wife and five children.

Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecprov.gov.za>