Speaker, hon Members of Parliament, it is with great sadness that the ANC learnt of the death of the former Member of Parliament, respected academic, intellectual and prolific political commentator, Prof Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert.
He will be remembered for the role he played in the historic meeting between Afrikaner South Africans and the ANC representatives in exile, which spurred the advancement towards a democratic South Africa. The meeting further helped to open channels of communication between the ANC and the white community which had for a long time been bombarded with the apartheid regime's anti-ANC propaganda.
The ANC president, O R Tambo, commented on that meeting and remarked that -
An organisation that is opposed to the apartheid system, we regard as on our side.
That means Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert was, from that point, on our side.
For a long time, Prof Van Zyl Slabbert served as one of the few outstanding voices of reason amidst an ocean of ruthlessness, repression and subjugation.
He was amongst the few white South Africans who resisted apartheid when it was not fashionable or personally rewarding to do so. Like Helen Suzman, he sought to use his role within the parliamentary opposition, the Progressive Federal Party, as a platform to reject and fight apartheid.
He later resigned from Parliament in protest against the apartheid regime's inability to address the country's problems. He did so not only to send an unequivocal message to the regime about the wrongness of its oppressive policies, but also to avail himself of an opportunity to join extraparliamentary forces of change to accelerate the process towards the demise of the apartheid demon.
He argued at the time that staying on in that institution would merely serve to lend it legitimacy. Recognising the historic importance of this decisive break with the apartheid system by an Afrikaner, the leadership of the ANC made bold to salute him as a new voortrekker.
Van Zyl Slabbert will be missed for his intellectual and constructive analysis of the political challenges of the day, which enriched our political discourse and contributed to strengthening our constitutional democracy. This is the quality present-day academics, opposition politicians and commentators should emulate.
It is a pleasure for me to say that I had the honour to work with Van Zyl Slabbert when we negotiated the new dispensation of local government. We co- chaired the negotiating forum. I can confidently say that he brilliantly contributed to the new metro system of government that we have today. We know that this system owes a great deal to the work that he has done.
He not only facilitated the discussion but contributed to the formulation of the new system of government, especially at local government level.
As the ANC, we want to say that he must rest in peace. He has played his part in this democracy. We hope that all of us will emulate his good work. I thank you.