Hon Chairperson and members, we express deep sorrow at the passing of Mama Albertina Sisulu. Like our father, Nelson Mandela, she acquired the European name "Albertina" at a Presbyterian missionary school.
I had the privilege to work under Ma Sisulu in the 1980s. She was one of our presidents in the United Democratic Front. I will forever cherish everything that Mama Sisulu taught us during the dark and hard days of apartheid. One of the things that I shall never forget is that she said one must always stand steadfast for what one believes.
Ma Sisulu had such a huge influence and impact on my political life that I named one of my three daughters after her, Albertina. I can say without any doubt that Ma Sisulu will always be in the Bloem family. Ma Sisulu's disciplined upbringing and remarkable ability to care for others made her one of the most remarkable nurses in our country.
Although she earned very little, she was willing to make sacrifices and send as much money home as she could. Six months into her training, she witnessed blatant racism and discrimination against black patients who were admitted to hospital after a horrific accident at Park Station. The accident victims were flooding into the non-European section of the hospital and hospital authorities refused to allow black patients to be treated in the European wards.
This incident had a profound effect on Mama Sisulu, as she could not believe that medical practitioners would violate the Hippocratic Oath and deny the best possible care to patients simply because they were of a different skin colour.
The hospital matron also flatly refused to allow Ma Sisulu to return home to mourn her mother's death, despite interventions and pleas offered by the Catholic priest at Rosettenville. Mama Sisulu began to understand what life as a third-class citizen entailed. Her humanity was disregarded. Ma Sisulu could have become bitter and negative; instead she chose to serve and fight to end oppression and its experience.
The wise words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr come to mind here. He said:
Everybody can be great ... You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace; a soul generated by love.
Martin Luther King Jr could have been speaking about Mama Sisulu. What made her a person above others was her deep desire to serve. The service she rendered in health and in politics is her legacy to all of us. We must cherish this legacy because it was made with sweat, tears, suffering and service. Her legacy must live on so that our society can still be served by her thoughts, through others who adopt her as a role model and who live by the values she upheld all through her life.
Mama Sisulu was a widely respected and honoured individual. People across all political divisions saw her as an outstanding citizen, a wonderful human being and a gifted leader. That is why we mourn her death.
In extending our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mama Sisulu, we remind them that they will now have to fill the role that the elder Sisulus filled with such singularity in their political life.
Mama, we salute you! Thank you very much for the freedom you gave to all of us, black and white. Go well, Mama! Thank you. [Applause.]