Thank you very much, hon member. We have different ways of celebrating Mama Sisulu's life. I thought that since this is the last day, we should just allow the member to sing.
Hon Deputy Speaker, hon Ministers and hon members, on behalf of the IFP and myself, I express our deepest condolences to the Sisulu family on the passing away of Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu.
The news of Mama Sisulu's passing last Thursday left me with a sense of enormous loss. My wife, Princess Irene, and I considered her a friend, but of course she was much more than that; she was one of the mothers of our democratic nation, birthing freedom through her unbending faith and convictions. It is true that there is no one more deserving of the title of "Mother of our Nation".
Albertina blessed us with her strength, both as an individual and in the partnership with her beloved husband, Walter Sisulu. They will remain South African icons. Albertina and Walter were an inspiration to me from a young age, not only in their politics, but in their marriage as well. Indeed they gave us a love story that underpinned everything that they accomplished.
I shall forever be grateful to Mr Walter Sisulu for the guidance he gave me as a young man when he advised me, together with iNkosi Albert Luthuli and Mr Nelson Mandela, to take up my hereditary position as inkosi of the Buthelezi clan. That was more than half a century ago, but it began a lifetime of leadership for me.
Throughout the years that followed I often leaned on the wisdom of men like Walter Sisulu. Thus, Albertina Sisulu became someone whom I respected and admired, for she so ably complemented her husband's strengths and supported him through the many dark nights of incarceration, suffering and exile.
In the midst of their fight for our freedom, Albertina managed to raise children of whom she and Walter could later be very proud. I am very proud of the fact that the hon Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Lindiwe Sisulu, was prepared for her later responsibilities as my Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
I thank God that Albertina Sisulu lived to see our freedom and to serve in a democratic Parliament, which she did, as she did everything else, with distinction and integrity. All of us who served with her in this House are very proud and privileged to have served with her.
I'm also grateful that in the last 17 years of her life South Africa could honour her and her husband for the more than 70 years that they gave to the liberation struggle. She deserved every accolade we gave her, but the praises we bestowed on her in life and those that we pour upon her memory now actually pale into insignificance compared to the crown that she receives as she now steps into eternity. May the Lord comfort the Sisulu children and grandchildren, for in truth there are many. May I express to the Chief Whip and members of the ANC our condolences for the loss of this stalwart. While our condolences go to the Sisulu family, we know that across our nation there are countless South Africans who consider themselves children and grandchildren of Albertina Sisulu because they sheltered in her care and thrived under her warmth. We thank the Sisulu family for giving us their mother.
Yebo, noma ngidlula ethunzini lokufa angiyikwesaba okubi ngoba Wena unami. Udek' itafula phambi kwami naphambi kwezitha zami. Ugcobile ikhanda lami ngamafutha. Isitsha sami siyachichima, okuhle nomusa kuyangilandela izinsuku zonke zokuhamba kwami. Ngiyakuhlala endlini kaSimakade kuze kube sekupheleni kwezinsuku. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because You are with me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. [Applause.]]
Hon Deputy Speaker, today the ID would like to extend our heartfelt condolences on the passing of Ma Albertina Sisulu, wife of the late Walter Sisulu. The name Albertina means "brilliant", "intelligent", "respectable", "noble" and "famous". Ma Sisulu embodied all of these characteristics and was true to the meaning of her name.
Yes, of course, her death has come as a great shock to those who were close to her, as well as to the entire nation. The moment I heard about the great loss for the Sisulu family, I placed my life on hold and took it upon myself to pay my last respects at the Sisulu family home in Johannesburg on Friday. This was all because she was not only amongst the best, but also the Mother of the Nation.
The Sisulu family have left their mark on South African history and have become prominent leaders in South African politics. One of Albertina Sisulu's most famous quotes was:
Women are the people who are going to relieve us from all this oppression and depression. The rent boycott that is happening in Soweto now is alive because of the women. It is the women who are on the street committees educating the people to stand up and protect each other.
This was the cornerstone of the emancipation of South African women.
Ons dink vandag spesiaal aan die Speaker, Walter en Albertina Sisulu se seun Max, asook aan Lindiwe Sisulu, en ons bring hulde aan hulle en aan hul ouers, wat hulle grootgemaak het. Ma Sisulu het nie net kinders in die lewe gebring nie, maar het ook geboorte gegee aan ons nuwe demokrasie in Suid- Afrika.
Daarom glo ons dat haar kinders en haar nageslag sal voortbou op daardie nalatenskap. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Today we are particularly keeping the Speaker, Max, who is the son of Walter and Albertina Sisulu, as well as Lindiwe Sisulu in our thoughts, and we would like to pay tribute to them and their parents who raised them. Not only did Ma Sisulu give birth to children, but she also gave birth to our new democracy in South Africa.
Therefore we believe that her children and descendants will continue to build on that heritage.]
We salute you, Mother of the Nation. Hamba kahle. [Go well.] [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, to the family, the ANC and the friends of the late hon Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu, who passed away on 2 June 2011, on behalf of the UDM, please accept our most sincere condolences on the loss of Mama Sisulu.
It is with a heavy heart that I stand here today once more to bid farewell to yet another struggle icon. Mama Sisulu's death marks the end of an era of a fearless generation, one that former President Thabo Mbeki aptly described as "the generation of the titans that pulled us out of the abyss and placed us on the pedestal of hope on which we continue to rest".
As a nation, we remain deeply indebted to this generation of titans who devoted their lives to the struggle for the liberation of our people. We remain eternally indebted to them for the freedom and democracy we now enjoy. All those who have had the privilege of working with Mama Sisulu can confirm her dedication to serving the people of South Africa.
We hope that these few words of comfort will mellow your sorrows and begin the process of healing.
Akuhlanga lungehlanga; thuthuzelekani. Lala ngoxolo Ma Sisulu. Enkosi. [Kwaqhwatywa.] [Please accept what has happened as fate; be comforted. Rest in peace, Ma Sisulu. [Applause.]]
Agb Adjunkspeaker, agb kollegas, as die VF Plus wil ons ons baie graag vereenselwig met die mosie deur ons simpatie en meelewing met die familie van Albertina Sisulu uit te spreek. Die Sisulu-familie is 'n familie wat diep spore getrap het in die Suid-Afrikaanse politiek in die verlede, maar ook tans, en hulle sal waarskynlik ook in die toekoms diep spore trap.
Albertina Sisulu het haar lewe gewy aan dit waarin sy met oortuiging geglo het en sy het die voorreg gehad om op 'n relatief ho ouderdom, die ouderdom van 76 in 1994, 'n lid te word van hierdie Parlement, waar sy gedien het tot aan die einde van 1999, toe sy 81 jaar oud was. Sy het die voorreg gehad om een van daardie lede te wees wat in 1994 na hierdie Parlement toe kon kom.
In die meeste organisasies is daar individue wat uitstaan soos 'n hoekpaal of 'n anker. Dit is duidelik as 'n mens na die lewe van Albertina Sisulu kyk, dat sy, in die stryd waarin sy gestaan het, binne haar party en binne die organisasie wat sy gedien het en die organisasies waarby sy betrokke was, so 'n hoekpaal was waarom mense bymekaargekom en vergader het.
As ons kyk na haar lewe, is dit duidelik dat haar lewe getuig het van toewyding en totale selfopoffering vir dit waarin sy geglo het.
Die VF Plus vereenselwig hom graag met die mosie wat vandag op die Ordelys is, waarin hulde aan haar gebring word. Ons dink aan die Sisulu-familie. Ons dink aan haar kinders, kleinkinders en al haar geliefdes. Ons betuig ook ons simpatie met die ANC, wat 'n kollega en 'n strydros verloor het. Baie dankie. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)
[Dr C P MULDER: Hon Deputy Speaker, hon colleagues, as the FF Plus we would very much like to associate ourselves with the motion by conveying our sympathy and empathy to the family of Albertina Sisulu. The Sisulu family is a family that have left their mark in South African politics in the past, are doing so at present, and are expected also to leave their mark in the future.
Albertina Sisulu dedicated her life to that in which she believed with conviction and in 1994, at the relatively advanced age of 76, she had the privilege of becoming a Member of this Parliament, in which she served up to the end of 1999, when she was already 81 years old. She had the privilege of being one of those members to be in a position to come to this Parliament in 1994.
In most organisations there are individuals who stand out, like a fencing- post, or an anchor. It is evident, when one considers the life of Albertina Sisulu, that she, in the struggle in which she was involved, in her party and in the organisation that she served and the organisations with which she was involved, was just such a fencing-post around which people gathered and congregated.
When we look at her life, it is evident that it testified to dedication and complete self-sacrifice for that in which she believed.
The FF Plus has the pleasure of associating itself with the motion on today's Order Paper, in which tribute is paid to her. We are thinking of the Sisulu family. We are thinking of her children, grandchildren and all her loved ones. We are also expressing our sympathy to the ANC, who has lost a colleague and a stalwart. Thank you very much.]
Deputy Speaker, the ACDP, together with numerous South Africans and people from all over the world, received the news about Mama Albertina Sisulu's sudden death with great sadness. I therefore, on behalf of the ACDP, wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to the Sisulu family, particularly our Speaker, hon Max Sisulu, and the hon Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, as well as the ANC and all Mama Sisulu's friends and relatives.
Mama Sisulu was a great and extraordinary woman, an excellent example, both as a mother and a leader, who made extraordinary personal sacrifices so that all South Africans, regardless of race, creed or gender, could be part of the democracy we are enjoying today. In spite of the harassment she suffered at the hands of the apartheid security police, Mama Sisulu remained calm, composed and dignified at all times.
Her choice of nursing and midwifery as a career revealed her caring and loving heart. As a midwife, she not only helped mothers at the point of birth, but she also helped to birth the democratic South Africa we are enjoying today.
The ACDP will cherish the memory of this political stalwart for a long time. I will personally remember her as a mother who always addressed me as "my son".
In 1994, during our early days in Parliament, when we still experienced some political intolerance, and some members were giving me a hard time, Mama Sisulu would always give me this advice, just like a genuine mother: "Don't worry about it, my son; you are most welcome in this place. This is your Parliament."
Mama Sisulu was a true Mother of the Nation. She never considered people's political affiliation; she loved and cared for all. Our prayers are with the Sisulu family during this time of bereavement. The ACDP and all those who loved her say: "May her soul rest in peace." [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, the PAC joins the nation in celebrating the life of a fearless fighter, a caring mother of the nation, a disciplined revolutionary and a selfless servant of the people. Comrade Albertina Sisulu left indelible footprints in the sands of memory - a legacy of respect, resilience and perseverance. She was the embodiment of the best her generation could give us and posterity will remember her as humble in greatness and great in humility.
To the Sisulu family: We hope that you will find solace in the fact that Mama Sisulu offered you the ecstasy of blood, and not the tyranny of blood. Emulating Mama Sisulu's honest and incorruptible life is the greatest tribute the family and the nation can pay her.
Singumbutho wakwapoqo sithi: Hamba kahle MaNdlangisa, Thole, Qhaqhane, MaNtsulu. Enkosi. [Kwaqhwatywa.] [As the PAC, we want to say: Farewell MaNdlangisa, Thole, Qhaqhane, MaNtsulu. Thank you. [Applause.]]
Madam Deputy Speaker, hon members, the family of Mama Albertina Sisulu, distinguished guests: We received with sadness the news of the passing away of Mama Sisulu. I know that there might be those who ask: How can we be shocked by the passing away of a 92-year-old person? The truth is that, as human beings, we wish that the people we love could be with us forever.
We thank the late Mama Sisulu for her selfless service to the community. Mama Sisulu was a symbol of resistance. Against all odds, she lived a full life and was able to bring up children who are leaders in their own right.
She also defied statisticians, because we are told that life expectancy in South Africa is 51 years. We are glad that life comes from God and not from the statisticians, otherwise Mama Sisulu would have died long before I was born. Mama Albertina Sisulu was a shining example of a servant of the people. Azapo appreciates the service that she rendered, including the time that she worked with the then Azapo secretary for health, the late Comrade Abu Asvat, the people's doctor.
We thank God for giving us Mama Sisulu. On behalf of Azapo, I convey a message of condolence to the family of Mama Albertina Sisulu, her political party, the ANC, and the people of South Africa. Thank you. [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, on behalf of the APC we want to extend our heartfelt condolences and solidarity to the Sisulu family as well as to the ANC. We are here passing our salute to Mama Sisulu because she stood up and fought for freedom. She belonged to a generation of leaders and activists who rose to the challenge of their times - people who served and sacrificed their personal comforts for the sake of the nation.
She was amongst the fortunate ones who fought for freedom and lived to see it, and lived to contribute to the reconstruction of the country. She was one of the MPs who set up this new democratic Parliament.
She was a leader who, in public and in her conduct, exuded humility and never pursued an overtly sectarian approach. As Comrade Dikobo indicated, in Soweto in the 80s she worked in the private practice of Dr Asvat, who was a member of Azapo. When Mama Urbania Mothopeng, the wife of the late president of the PAC, Zephania Mothopeng, passed away, MaSisulu, together with MaTambo and others, were very conspicuous in their support and presence with the family until the funeral.
We believe it is imperative for us who remain behind to carry on the struggle that those of her generation so ably fought, to be comforted in the knowledge that, as Sobukwe said, "we are nothing but tools of history". When we are gone, history shall find new tools. We believe that, indeed, her work and her life epitomise the saying: "Malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi!" [Praise the name of women!] Thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, I am exceptionally honoured to recognise the leader of our people, Comrade Cyril Ramaphosa, who chaired the Constitutional Assembly, which gave birth to our Constitution. He is still vigilant. He was the first to observe a textual mistake on our Order Paper. As a result of that, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a slight textual correction to the motion I moved. Mr Walter Sisulu was never a Member of Parliament. Therefore paragraph 7 should be corrected by the removal of this reference.
Mama Sisulu was born in 1918 and immediately lost both her parents, making it impossible for her to follow a career of her choice, also making her the earliest known child head of a family. She didn't enjoy her youth.
In the 1940s, when she met Walter Sisulu, he was already involved in discussions for the founding of the ANC Youth League. She immediately became politically active. In 1944 she married Walter. Hardly four years into her marriage the National Party came into power on the platform of apartheid. A year thereafter, in 1948, she became active in the ANC Women's League. In 1949, Walter was elected secretary-general of the ANC, which was a full-time position, which denied the family his income. She became the sole breadwinner. She helped found the nonracial Federation of South African Women, a federation which was the first to produce a charter of rights in 1954. In 1956, she became one of the leaders of the march to Pretoria.
During the treason trial, again, she was on her own, looking after the family. In the 60s she was detained many times, and ultimately her husband was sentenced and sent to Robben Island. She was left alone to look after the family, and also appreciated at that point in time that family and children meant South Africa and the children of South Africa. It is for that reason that she mentored generations of the youth that brought our freedom.
Born in 1918 to become a great mother and leader of the nation, Mama Sisulu left a great legacy of values to all South Africans, black and white, young and old. Mama was a phenomenal woman of vision and action. She was an embodiment of the moral vision of the National Liberation Movement expounded by O R Tambo and Rev Trevor Huddleston, the roots of her moral vision.
On 24 September 1987 the Rt Rev Archbishop Trevor Huddleston convened the International Conference on Children, Repression and the Law in Apartheid South Africa. In the words of the late President Reginald Oliver Tambo, the conference was convened, and I quote:
We meet because there is something that is happening to the hapless and the innocent that should not be allowed to happen. We meet because we recognize that our own lives have meaning only to the extent that they are used to create a social condition which will make the lives of the children happy, full and meaningful. We have gathered ourselves in Harare and on this particular occasion because we know that a grievous injustice is being done to all humanity.
Recalling the atrocities perpetrated on children by the inhuman apartheid system and the plight of children under this system, O R Tambo said, and I quote:
This terrible desolation defines for us what our struggle must be about. We cannot be true liberators unless the liberation we will achieve guarantees all children the rights to life, health, happiness and free development, respecting the individuality, inclinations and capacities of each child. Our liberation would be untrue to itself if it did not, among its first tasks, attend to the welfare of the millions of children whose lives have been stunted and turned into a terrible misery by the violence of the apartheid system.
In his call for national and international defence for children under the apartheid system, Tambo said, and I quote:
... our concern for the children, the inheritors of our future, cannot be postponed until the day we achieve our emancipation. That is why this conference ...
Referring to the Harare Conference -
... is being held. It should result in the greatest possible international mobilisation around the issue of the plight of the children of South Africa ...
He continued:
Inside our country, we, as well, have a responsibility to act now in defence of the children. There, too, we must rip off the cloak of silence which the Pretoria regime tries to drape around its horrendous misdeeds. The democratic movement must, in its entirety, join the campaign to force the racist regime to take its blood-stained hands off our people!
In his call to the Interfaith Movement, O R Tambo said, and I quote:
Other men and women of conscience must themselves join in this struggle because none can reckon themselves human and be unconcerned about what is happening to the young. We would expect that people of all faiths would feel moved by their own beliefs to say we too must be counted amongst those who stood up in defence of the children.
As a delegate to the 1987 Harare Conference and a co-worker of Mama Sisulu on women's and children's rights, I stand before this House to attest that Mama Sisulu became the volunteer-in-chief in defence of children under apartheid repression.
She led us in the mobilisation of all progressive forces, including women's and civic associations, NGOs, CBOs and faith-based organisations, for the defence of fundamental children's rights. This mobilisation culminated in the establishment of the National Children's Rights Committee, which established provincial structures rooted among the people.
As a founder and patron of the National Children's Rights Committee, Mama taught us to appreciate that secular authorities and faith-based organisations have an identity of interest in defence of the inherent dignity of all children, both black and white; development of the full potential of all children; recovery of the humanity - ubuntu/botho - of all South African children; and improvement of the quality of their lives through quality education, health care, food security and job creation. She therefore mobilised all sectors of society, especially the interfaith movement, to tell the truth about the plight of children under the apartheid system and to act in their defence.
Mama also heeded O R Tambo's call for international mobilisation around the issue of the plight of the children of South Africa. Under her leadership the National Children's Rights Committee mobilised financial, administrative and humanitarian assistance from the United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef, for the defence of the children of South Africa. Through the NCRC, an umbrella organisation for civil society groups working for children's rights, Mama Sisulu became instrumental in making sure that the principles of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child were included in the country's democratic Constitution and the Bill of Rights. She also paved the way for Unicef to engage with and establish an office in the country.
Mama Sisulu also mobilised the Swedish Save the Children organisation to support public interest law organisations, notably the community law centre of the National Institute for Public Interest Law and Research, led by lawyers like J B Sibanyoni, a member of this House, and the community law centre at the University of the Western Cape, led by the late Comrade Dullah Omar. The institute published a book titled Women and Children in a Violent Society, after field work done under her leadership in the violence- torn KwaZulu-Natal province.
Unicef correctly described Mama Sisulu as a woman of great courage, conviction and passion, and a tireless advocate for South Africa's children. As the NCRC's patron and moral leader, Mama Sisulu was instrumental in ensuring that, after the country's first democratic elections, the NCRC took centre stage, being transformed into the Children's Desk in the Office of the President, as well as in all nine provincial premiers' offices. This work laid the foundation for the National Programme of Action for Children, which mapped out plans for the realisation of all South Africa's children's rights.
As part of our tribute to Mama Sisulu, the ANC calls on the Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities to table a progress report to Parliament in this regard.
President Jacob Zuma provided the framework for all sectors, including the National Interfaith Movement, to contribute to youth and child development when he invited all sectors in society to enter into a partnership with his administration for reconstruction, development and progress. The idea of a partnership between government and the National Interfaith Movement can be traced back to the 1997 National Religious Leaders Summit convened by our icon, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
Mandela told the summit that political and faith leaders could not achieve their objectives in isolation; they needed to co-operate in a structured way through formations that were rooted among the people. He awakened politicians to the fact that social transformation could not be achieved without spiritual transformation, which he described as the reconstruction and development programme of the soul.
Given the deepening moral degeneration manifesting itself in teenage pregnancies, drug and alcohol abuse, neglect of child-headed families, abuse of women and children, illiteracy, skills shortage, and lack of psychosocial support for victims of social violence, the elders of our nation in the beyond will ask Mama Sisulu on her arrival: Where is the spiritual transformation plan of the National Interfaith Movement? Where is the memorandum of agreement between government and the National Interfaith Movement in defence of the youth and children?
Collaboration between the government and the National Interfaith Movement would not result in the co-option and domination of one by the other. The endorsement of Mandela's call for spiritual transformation by President Zuma and the entire leadership of the ruling party, the ANC, testifies eloquently to the fact that government and the National Interfaith Movement are equally impelled to safeguard the unique dignity of every human being, to promote the immeasurable value of life of everyone, and to foster the common good. No further amount of interfaith dialogue can advance human dignity and the common good. What is now required is a social plan to address the spiritual and material needs of the children, the youth and the poorest of the poor.
President Jacob Zuma has already said that human development has a spiritual and material aspect, and called for a memorandum of agreement between government and the National Interfaith Movement for holistic human development and the creation of cohesive, caring and sustainable communities. In memory of Mama Albertina Sisulu, let us form this partnership and use it as a vehicle for preserving and developing her legacy to our youth and children.
To aid this process Parliament will hold a parliamentary interfaith indaba at the end of June, which will be followed by provincial interfaith round tables. These round tables will culminate in a Presidential Interfaith Summit on 25 August 2011, which will consolidate the National Interfaith Movement and adopt a programme of action for the creation of the cohesive, caring and sustainable communities that Mama Sisulu dreamt of and worked for throughout her life.
Let her spirit rest in peace. Lala ngoxolo, Mama Wethu! [Our Mother, rest in peace.]
Thank you, hon Deputy Speaker. [Applause.]
The condolences of the House will be conveyed to the Sisulu family.
Debate concluded.
Motion agreed to, members standing.