Anti-Apartheid Activist Helen Suzman Dies
Former South African politician and anti-apartheid crusader Helen Suzman, a white woman who was once the only member of parliament to openly oppose the pernicious system of racial separation in South Africa, died Thursday at her home in Johannesburg. She was 91.
Former South African politician and anti-apartheid crusader Helen Suzman, a white woman who was once the only member of parliament to openly oppose the system of racial separation in South Africa, died Thursday at her home in Johannesburg. She was 91.
Dig, Root, GrowBBC:
Archbishop Desmond Tutu said his country owed her an enormous debt in the struggle against apartheid.
“She really was indomitable,” he said.
Nelson Mandela Foundation chief executive Achmat Dangor told the Associated Press news agency that she was a “great patriot and a fearless fighter against apartheid”.
Mrs Suzman, who first entered the South African parliament in 1953, was a thorn in the side of the apartheid regime, says the BBC’s Peter Biles, in Johannesburg.
She was a frequent visitor of jailed African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela when he was held on Robben Island prison for 18 years.
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