Hofmeyr died in Johannesburg on 3 December 1948, almost six months after the National Party came to power with their slogan of apartheid.
He was buried two days later from the Dutch Reformed Church in Bosman Street.
His funeral procession was two miles long, of which the streets were lined by thousands of people, an estimated 10,000 present in total.
General Jan Smuts paid tribute to Hofmeyr both at the graveside, and on the evening before in a national radio broadcast.
Of Hofmeyr he said:
Here was the wonder child of South Africa, with a record with which South Africa shows no parallel, who from his youngest years beat all records, whose achievement in a comparatively brief life shows no parallel in this land, and whose star at the end was still rising ...
He has passed on, but his service and the high spirit in which he sought to serve his country and his fellow-men of all races remain our abiding possessions.

This is a better and richer country for his service, and his message will not be forgotten.

His death was premature and to some extent caused by the heavy burden of all the work that Smuts had entrusted to him.
Smuts may have helped to win the war in Europe, but at home he lost not only an election, but also the best and most likely candidate to continue his legacy.
South Africa lost one of the clearest liberal voices in its politics.
Hofmeyr died in Johannesburg on 3 December 1948, almost six months after the National Party came to power with their slogan of apartheid. He was buried two days later from the Dutch Reformed Church in Bosman Street. His funeral procession was two miles long, of which the streets were lined by thousands of people, an estimated 10,000 present in total. General Jan Smuts paid tribute to Hofmeyr both at the graveside, and on the evening before in a national radio broadcast. Of Hofmeyr he said:
Here was the wonder child of South Africa, with a record with which South Africa shows no parallel, who from his youngest years beat all records, whose achievement in a comparatively brief life shows no parallel in this land, and whose star at the end was still rising ...
He has passed on, but his service and the high spirit in which he sought to serve his country and his fellow-men of all races remain our abiding possessions.
This is a better and richer country for his service, and his message will not be forgotten.
His death was premature and to some extent caused by the heavy burden of all the work that Smuts had entrusted to him. Smuts may have helped to win the war in Europe, but at home he lost not only an election, but also the best and most likely candidate to continue his legacy. South Africa lost one of the clearest liberal voices in its politics.
Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (1894–1948)