Suzman 'an unsung heroine'

2009-01-02 10:10

Johannesburg - Tributes continued to pour in on Friday for veteran anti-apartheid campaigner Helen Suzman who died on Thursday morning.

Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said Suzman had not been given the recognition she deserved.

"I hope that in the hour of her passing this will begin to be rectified.... She is, without doubt, one of the unsung heroines of the struggle."

Buthelezi said Suzman had demonstrated "raw courage" in curbing some of the worst excesses of the apartheid government with her forensic parliamentary skills and relentless badgering of National Party politicians to, occasionally, "do the right thing".

"Helen played a straight bat and played it for all it was worth.

"She always said what she meant, and meant what she said," Buthelezi said.

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies joined fellow South Africans in mourning the loss of Suzman.

The Board said Suzman had made it clear in an interview that she had never spoken officially as a Jew and had not spoken officially for black people either.

She stated that she spoke on issues "and it was this principled stand that characterised Helen Suzman's political career, in which she used her position in parliament, to oppose apartheid laws and expose the injustices they caused", the Board said.

The Democratic Alliance Students' Organisation (Daso) said Suzman embodied the principle of an injustice to one sector of society being an injustice to all.

"It is such leaders that have set the tone for youth branches such as the Daso, who follow in the footsteps of the liberal tradition, to strive for the liberty of all of South Africa's citizens.

"Her fight will continue to echo throughout history," Daso said.

South African filmmaker Anant Singh described Suzman as a true patriot who earned the love and respect of the people though her selfless actions.

"We salute her for her commitment to our nation's struggle for democracy.

"She was a formidable leader and role model who had strived for her entire life to bring about a democratic and just dispensation in South Africa," Singh said.

- SAPA