Anti-Apartheid Activist Helen Suzman died on Thursday at age 91.
Wired PR News.com – Helen Suzman, a renowned anti-apartheid activist, died on Thursday. As reported by AFP, the former South African legislator, who served more than 4 decades in Parliament, was said to have passed away peacefully at her Johannesburg home.
Suzman, who was 91 at the time of her death, was a member of Parliament between1953 and 1989. For many years, she was the only member to speak out in opposition of apartheid, which ended in 1994, and is credited with playing a significant role in its demise.
South African leader, Nelson Mandela, whom Suzman visited in prison during his many years of incarceration, is quoted by the AFP of commenting in his autobiography, “It was an odd and wonderful sight to see this courageous woman peering into our cells and strolling around our courtyard. She was the first and only woman ever to grace our cells.”
Suzman continued to criticize South African rule and remaining racial inequalities following the end of apartheid. She was quoted by AFP as stating in a 2007 interview, “It is both a pleasure getting rid of apartheid but not very satisfactory in what has replaced it. The education system is shocking… and the hospitals are a disgrace.”
