Hon Deputy Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House -
1) notes with a deep sense of sadness the sudden passing on of the ANC stalwart Mama Albertina Sisulu on 2 June 2011 at the age of 92;
2) further notes that Mama Albertina Sisulu was born in the Transkei on 21 October 1918 as the second child of Bonilizwe and Monica Thethiwe and that, after the death of both her parents, Mama Sisulu, who was then 11 years old, took over the responsibility of looking after her brothers and sisters, and while she also had planned on becoming a nun, decided to become a nurse instead in order to financially support her siblings in their studies, and that in 1944 she married Walter Sisulu;
3) recognises that in 1955 Mama Albertina joined the ANC Women's League and in 1956, together with Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph and Amina Cachalia, led thousands of women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria during the famous Women's March to protest against blacks being forced to carry the notorious passbooks;
4) further recognises that during the height of repression, bannings, arrests and killings, she emerged steadfast and filled the void left by the forceful exiling and imprisonment of leaders like Mandela, Tambo and others, and that she was one of the founding members of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and gave guidance to young activists and leaders of progressive organisations, including Cosas, Sayco, Azaso, civic formations and many women's organisations throughout the country; and while she was not only giving political guidance, she was also being a mother figure to most activists, and that it was a combination of these two qualities, political and parental roles, that made it possible for her as a leader of the UDF to sustain a concerted campaign by all South Africans against the tri-cameral apartheid parliamentary system;
5) remembers that Mama Sisulu was the only female delegate at the official launch of the ANC Youth League on 10 September 1944 and 19 June 1963 and became the first woman to be imprisoned under the notorious 90 Day Act which allowed the state to hold suspects for 90 days without being charged, that she was banned in August 1964 for five years and confined to the magisterial district of Johannesburg, which complicated visits to Robben Island where her husband, Walter Sisulu, was serving a life sentence as a result of the Rivonia trial and that she was banned for a continuous 18-year stretch, from 1963 until Walter's release in 1989, having spent time in and out of jail, the longest period being eight months after attending the funeral of ANC Women's League veteran Rose Mbele;
6) further remembers that for more than 50 years, Mama Albertina committed herself to the Albertina Sisulu Foundation which works to improve the lives of small children and old people and that she was honoured for her commitment to the anti-apartheid struggle and her role as a social worker when the World Peace Council, based in Basel, Switzerland, elected her president from 1993 to 1996;
7) recalls that in 1991 Mama Albertina was elected to serve on the ANC's national executive committee, alongside Walter Sisulu, who was elected as ANC deputy president, and that, when in April 1994 the Sisulus observed the transition of their country in its first democratic elections, Albertina became a Member of Parliament and served Parliament until 1999;
8) acknowledges that while her family has lost a mother, a grandmother and a great grandmother, the ANC and the country have lost an irreplaceable leader, a role model and a constant example of dedication and selflessness; and
9) conveys its heartfelt condolences to the Sisulu family, friends and comrades in the ANC, the Women's League, the Youth League and the Alliance.
I thank you, hon Deputy Speaker.