President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to distinguished journalist, acclaimed editor, and former special adviser in the Presidency, Tony Heard.

Heard died at the age of 86 late last month following a short illness.

"Tony Heard was brave in his resistance to apartheid and was an influential thought leader who challenged the conscience and beliefs of South Africans who benefited from apartheid. He deployed significant newsroom resources to expose the brutality of the apartheid state and to portray the everyday suffering of oppressed and impoverished communities.

"In so doing, he mobilised and nurtured a generation of journalists who took a clear stand on critical issues in the country and scurried between typewriters and teargas to give a voice to those whose pleas and outcries were muzzled and repressed by the state," the President said.

On Heard's contribution to journalism, President Ramaphosa said he "inspired quality journalism which enriched the profession and media audiences alike and contributed to the inevitable momentum that led to our freedom."

"We value the contributions he made as well as a senior advisor to government in his later years. May his soul rest in peace".

Heard is survived by his partner Jane Porter and his children Vicki, Janet, Pasqua and Dylan.

Meanwhile, the South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) referred to Heard as a "titan of journalism."

"With heavy hearts, SANEF mourns the passing of a doyen of a conscientious journalist whose contributions to the field left an indelible mark on South Africa and beyond," it said in a statement.