Mr Speaker, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and hon members, I am greatly honoured to have this opportunity today to pay tribute on behalf of the ANC to Roy Padayachie, who died so tragically on 5 May, just a few days ago. In fact, I can scarcely believe that he is not with us here today.
First I would like to extend my sincere condolences to his wife, Sally, and his daughters, his grandchild and the rest of his family, and say to them: My thoughts have been with you in these past few painful days of grief. It is a dark and painful loss for all of you, as indeed it is for our country. Much has been said about Roy in tributes paid to him by our President and many others, about his achievements in life, his activism in the anti- apartheid struggle, his work with the United Democratic Front and the Natal Indian Congress and, more recently, his achievements in government.
Roy was brave and he was principled. These are two characteristics which not many people possess and which are perhaps two of the most admirable of all human qualities.
I did not know Roy during those years when he worked in the Chatsworth, Phoenix and Merebank areas to mobilise communities in the struggle against the apartheid state and in favour of a free, democratic and nonracial South Africa, but many tributes have been paid to him for this extraordinary work.
In addition to this part of his life, and perhaps one area that is less well known, is his activism in the field of early childhood development. He was passionate about the subject and it is in great measure due to his efforts that so many strides have been made in this area in South Africa today, something for which we can be very grateful.
I came to know him later as my colleague and friend, when we served together as Deputy Ministers for more than six years. During that time the Roy that I knew had two sides to him. One was an intensely serious side. He was serious about his job, he was dedicated to the task at hand and he was thoughtful and intelligent in all this. This was the side of him that brought him to the ANC and to the nonracial struggle in pursuit of the ideals of the Freedom Charter. There is and was no more noble cause in the history of our country. Roy pursued these ideals with unshakeable conviction and in his own inimitable style.
The other side of him was the fun side. Roy was great fun. We had, I will now reveal to you here today, a sort of club of Deputy Ministers. We worked hard and we worked late and we would sometimes meet together to share our challenges and our experiences over dinner. We even had a slogan, created by one amongst us who shall remain nameless. The slogan was, "Deputies of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your Ministers!" [Laughter.] Roy loved that! Roy loved that and was always the life and soul of the party. He was, of course, subsequently and deservedly promoted to Minister and I know he never forgot that little bit of fun. I will remember him like this. In fact, the last time we spoke we shared a joke, and that was Roy.
But one of Roy's most endearing qualities was his absolute adoration of his family. He was so proud of his wife and his daughters, and well he should have been. Not only were they his closest allies in his work, but also his sounding board and his foundation. In this complicated world, a devoted and loving family is probably the most valuable asset a person can have. Roy had that and I have no doubt that in return his love of them and his contribution to his family will carry Sally and Roy's daughters through this impossibly difficult time.
I said earlier that the tributes to Roy that have poured in describe his achievements in life. Those achievements will also be his legacy, and the qualities that have described him are those that others should and will emulate. Those are the qualities that we can all emulate: courage, principle, devotion to family, seriousness in important things, and the ability to laugh at the unimportant. We all need these things.
I will remember Roy for all these qualities and I will remember him as a friend and comrade. I believe our memorial to him should be to be the kind of person that he was in our efforts, and to encourage those qualities in our children.
I will miss him, as will our country. Hamba kahle, comrade. [Go well, comrade.]
Debate concluded.