The acclaimed music composer died of diabetes-related complications in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The 89-year-old Khumalo was one of South Africa's revered choral music composers and conductors.

He was also part of the committee that amalgamated the Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika prayer with Die Stem to form the post-apartheid South African national anthem.

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Khumalo’s son Diliza says the family is still in shock. 

“He really achieved quite a lot in his lifetime and i’s one of the things we can e grateful for that as his children we had the opportunity to witness him going through that and see the challenges he went through, his tenacity.

“When he decided to do something, he stuck with it in spite of the challenges and the one thing that I keep saying today is that I’m reminded so much of what a hard worker he was,” Diliza adds. 

The family is yet to announce the memorial and funeral arrangements.

“Today we’re still really in shock. Tomorrow we will then start looking at logistics and dealing what we do to move forward.”