Mr Speaker, members of the House, a very special generation of South Africans is passing into history. It is a generation of men and women who were born into apartheid, who took part in the struggle to terminate that system and who became part of the constructors of the new order of democracy that we are now living under in our country. One of those outstanding South Africans was Prof Asmal.
I recall so well how some of the senior comrades spoke of him as a young activist in this country who was called Tiekie. Those who remember sterling will know that a "tiekie" was one of the smallest coins when we grew up. But although he was called Tiekie, he was a very big person. I often thought of him as a diminutive giant, because in spite of his stature, he did enormous work, at home, in England, in Ireland, where I briefly experienced his work and the people he worked with. Wherever we went in Ireland, fundraising in preparation for the first elections, his name was literally everywhere. In every hall, people spoke about Prof Asmal as the representative of the people of South Africa.
I got to know him for the very first time when he arrived in South Africa as we worked together in the ANC. He was informal, but he was very organised and systematic. He knew what he was about. I think those of us who were part of the team, of the ANC by the way ... [Laughter.] ... benefited tremendously from Prof Asmal. He was educative, he guided us, he was well researched. There was simply not anything that was lacking about him.
I think those of us who worked with him, both in the structures of the ANC and in this House, will remember how energetic he was in everything he did. In Cabinet, one of the comrades recalled, he read each and every memo of every department, and he debated it as if it was his own memo when it came before Cabinet. I think that example, set by an individual who had already advanced in years to that extent, was an inspiration and showed us the spirit of those who really shouldered the struggle over the years that brought us to democracy. So today I think we must again stop and reflect on the quality of the men and women who prepared the places we occupy now and think how we can make up for what they showed us.
I think that the very best we can do for Prof Asmal at this time is to remember the passion he had, the insistence he had on issues of national democracy and human rights in this country, and of sticking to the provisions of the Constitution. I think that passion he continued to display even after he had retired calls us to duty to the very end of our days.
I say on behalf of all of us: May his soul rest in peace.