Thank you, hon Speaker, hon colleagues in the House ...
... boo Rantsolase, ditsala le ba losika, kwa tshimologolong fela ke rata gore... [... the Rantsolases, friends and family, I would like to start off by saying ...]
... we are gathered here today to celebrate a life and mourn the passing away of the late Comrade Alina Rantsolase, who was called to glory on 2 November 2010. Our presence here today is testament to a life lived righteously, a life that lifted others, a life lived selflessly in order to improve the living conditions of the majority of our people in this country.
It is with a heavy heart indeed that I stand here to address this august House and pay tribute to someone who has been a friend, a comrade, a mentor and a colleague for almost 37 years. We celebrate Comrade Alina Rantsolase's life mindful that words cannot even begin to express our sorrow, nor illustrate the large and eventful life that she led.
This Parliament's discussion here today pays tributes to her and it also provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the significant contributions that Comrade Alina Rantsolase has made in this country. All of us who are present here today will enjoy our individual and collective memories of Comrade Alina Rantsolase. As we depart from here we will also always remember her, as she was indeed a truly great South African.
Today we feel weak and helpless because death has robbed us of a true revolutionary and an exemplary leader. On this day, we feel a deep sense of loss because a caring heart has ceased to beat. The late Comrade Alina Rantsolase made immense contributions to the establishment of a new democratic South Africa.
Because of her fruitful life and many years of service devoted to the liberation cause, she became the embodiment of the progressive woman that we often speak of. Her body has left this material world, but her soul will shine forever in our midst.
Like most of us, our liberation heroes and heroines, Comrade Alina Rantsolase, as we have heard, was born in a rural village in the Free State on March 1954, during the height of the oppressive apartheid regime. Her mother was an ordinary domestic worker.
Born into a poor family and confronted by the socioeconomic realities of the then apartheid regime, Comrade Alina Rantsolase became involved in the anti-apartheid movement struggles while she was still studying. At that time, she was still very young. From a very young and tender age, the late Comrade Alina Rantsolase's sharp intellectual power stood out and she showed great promise as a leader with an extremely keen mind and a profound sense of perseverance.
Due to her involvement in politics, her schooling was naturally disrupted, like that of many others. She was subsequently employed at the Checkers store where we worked together. Following that, she was, not surprisingly, elected as a shop steward. Also, she played a pivotal role in negotiations at the time. She ensured that our trade union and the rights of workers are also recognised and fiercely fought for a living wage as well as better working conditions for all workers.
Like all other activists, she fought the apartheid government through serving in the civic structures, and also served at the lower ranks of our women structures. She didn't just rise overnight. She worked hard. She rose from the lower ranks of our movement and also became a leader. She became a national leader as early as the late 80s and she devoted her life to the service of the workers and the national liberation movement.
It was during her tenure as a shop steward and later as the national treasurer of the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union, Saccawu, her own trade union - because she didn't start by becoming the treasurer of the Congress of SA Trade Unions, Cosatu; she became the national treasurer of Saccawu and later the national treasurer of Cosatu - that Comrade Alina Rantsolase made her mark in the national politics.
She served as the national treasurer of Saccawu from 1993 to 1999, where we served together. She was then elected to the Cosatu national treasury, a position she held until 2009. She was then elected to this Parliament as a Member of Parliament, as we know.
Given the fact that she was a disciplined cadre, she was in her lifetime also appointed to serve as the chairperson of the disciplinary committee of the ANC in the Vaal region from 1998 to 2000. She was also the chairperson of the Human Rights Committee from 2008 to 2009. She served as a member of the National Economic Development and Labour Council, Nedlac, executive committee and the Presidential Working Group from 1999 to 2000.
She also represented workers at the global level in the International Trade Union Confederation on the International Labour Organisation committee of labour standards and the Southern African Development Community Labour Social Commission and African Union Labour and Social Commission from 2003 to 2009. She was also a representative of Africa in the executive committee, which later became feared as the largest trade union secretariat there.
Comrade Alina Rantsolase remained down-to-earth, friendly and never forgot that she was a servant of our people. Her selfless and staunch commitment to the working class is codified in her illustrious career as a trade unionist. Hon Rantsolase was a woman of principle, soft-spoken but very profound. She could disagree without being disagreeable. She shunned superfluous and ever-versed posturing and always focused on the broader national picture and national agenda. Above all, she was a woman of her word who called a spade a spade and not an agricultural tool. She was a woman who always carried herself with dignity and right to the end of her life sustained her integrity, which was beyond reproach.
Hee batho, o ne a rata diaparo. Lesela o ne a le ja, a le montle ka dinako tse tsotlhe. [People, she loved clothes. She was stylish and she always looked beautiful.]
Comrade Alina Rantsolase also served on a number of committees here in Parliament, including the Home Affairs and Labour portfolio committees, as has been said. But she was also a member of the provincial executive committee of Gauteng province.
At the time of her death, Comrade Alina Rantsolase was the chairperson of the parliamentary caucus, as we know. Her untimely death comes as a great shock to all of us. We will forever remember her as a beacon of inspiration to all of us. She was a guiding light and a pillar of strength to all of us. In Shakespeare's words:
You will never see so much, nor live so long.
Despite the fact that she was held in high regard among her comrades, including members of the opposition parties, she never had problems in the organisation, as was said earlier on, even with the opposition. Comrade Alina Rantsolase never became conceited or arrogant. She never lost touch with her origins and remained committed to the poor and to the vulnerable until her last breath. She stood out as an irreproachable character.
The Good Book tells us that God works in mysterious ways in performing his wonders. I'm talking about God because Comrade Alina was a Christian. She was a believer. Comrade Alina Rantsolase was a wonder that God called to glory. If we believe Matthews' Gospel that the degree of our final reward is dependent on the extent to which we, as individuals, responded to the needs of our brothers and sisters, then we can take solace that Comrade Alina Rantsolase has earned a place at the right-hand side of God, and our loss, our grief, is heaven's gain.
Fellow comrades, let us recommit ourselves to continuing her struggle for a just and caring South Africa. Let us rededicate ourselves to her dream of a better world and a better South Africa, free of poverty, free of illiteracy, free of abuse of women and children, and free of crime. Let us rededicate ourselves for the building of that South Africa that Comrade Alina Rantsolase dreamt of and worked so hard for.
To the family, brothers and sisters and ...
... Puleng, ngwanake, yo o seyong fa ka maswabi... [... Puleng, my child, who unfortunately couldn't be here ...]
... stay strong during this difficult time. You stood by her, side by side, up to the end. We are deeply saddened by your loss. We will cherish the memories of the times we spend together with her. We are with you during this time of grief. May the peace which comes from the memories of shared love comfort you now and also in the days ahead. Be strong in the knowledge that in your veins runs the blood of a true cadre, a woman among women, a real woman of substance who will always live in our hearts and minds.
Long live the memory of our comrade, friend and sister. On behalf of the ANC, I would like to say, may her soul rest in peace.
Ka Setswana ga twe, lalang ka ntho, madi a tshologa. Ke a leboga. A mowa wa gagwe o robale ka kagiso. [Legofi.] [In Setswana, we convey our deepest condolences. Thank you. May her soul rest in peace. [Applause.]]