Hon Speaker, hon Deputy President, Mrs Asmal, children, friends and hon members of this House, I move:
That the House -
1) notes with great sadness the death of Professor Kader Asmal yesterday, 22 June 2011, at the age of 76, after suffering a heart attack;
2) remembers that Prof Asmal was born on 8 October 1934 in Stanger, KwaZulu-Natal, and while still a school-boy met Chief Albert Luthuli who inspired him towards human rights and in 1959 he qualified as a teacher and moved to London where he enrolled at the London School of Economics and Political Science and while in London he started the British Anti-Apartheid Movement and when he joined the Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, as a teacher of human rights, labour law and international law he started the Irish Anti- Apartheid Movement;
3) further remembers that Professor Asmal qualified as a barrister in both the London and Dublin Bars and received degrees from both the London School of Economics (LLM (Lond)) and Trinity College, Dublin,(MA (Dubl)) and was a law professor at Trinity College for 27 years, specializing in human rights, labour and international law and in 1983 he was awarded the Prix Unesco for his involvement in the international inquiries into human rights violations and served on the African National Congress' constitutional committee from 1986;
4) recalls that in 1990 Prof Asmal returned to South Africa and shortly afterwards was elected to the African National Congress's national executive committee and in 1993 he served as a member of the negotiating team of the African National Congress at the Multiparty Negotiating Forum and shortly afterwards was elected to the Forum, and in May 1994 he was elected to the National Assembly and joined the Cabinet as Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry;
5) further recalls that in 1996 the World Wide Fund for Nature-South Africa awarded Asmal their Gold Medal for his conservation work and during his tenure he supported the Global Water Partnership (GWP)and as Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry he spearheaded the recognition of the concept of "the environment as a prime water user" and also served as the chairman of the World Commission on Dams from 1997 to 2001;
6) acknowledges that in 1999, after the South African general elections, he became Minister of Education and among his initiatives as Minister of Education was the launching in 2001 of the South African History Project "to promote and enhance the conditions and status of the learning and teaching of history in the South African schooling system, with the goal of restoring its material position and intellectual purchase in the classroom"; 7) further acknowledges that Prof Asmal retired from active politics in 2008;
8) appreciates his sterling contribution to the struggle for liberation and the attainment of freedom and democracy; and
9) extends its heartfelt condolences to the family of Prof Asmal, friends and comrades in the ANC and the Alliance.