I move without notice:
That the House -
1) notes with sadness the death of 91 year old struggle veteran Vesta Smith on Monday, 9 September 2013, after a long illness;
2) further notes that Ma Vee, as she was affectionately known in Soweto, served the African National Congress (ANC) with humility, commitment and integrity since the 1950's and was a great freedom fighter;
3) remembers that Ma Vee worked closely with Mama Albertina and Tata Walter Sisulu and was detained in terms of the Internal Security Act at the Old Fort in 1976 with the likes of Mama Winnie Mandela and Fatima Meer;
4) further remembers that she attended the Congress of the People in Kliptown in 1955 and was part of the 1956 Women's March;
5) recalls that she was honoured in Cape Town on 30 August 2013 by the Legal Resources Centre, one of several organisations she had served in her prime;
6) believes that Mama Vesta was a gift to the ANC who never had second thoughts about working for the movement, even in difficult times; and
7) conveys its deepest condolences to her family, cadres, relatives and friends.
Agreed to.