SOUTH AFRICA: President Jacob Zuma and former head of state Thabo Mbeki pay tribute to late ANC stalwart, Albertina Sisulu

Record ID: 453328

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: President Jacob Zuma and former head of state Thabo Mbeki pay tribute to late ANC stalwart, Albertina Sisulu
  • Date: 4th June 2011
  • Summary: NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING "ALBERTINA SISULU 1918-2011"
  • Embargoed: 19th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SOUTH AFRICA
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2T21YP34WBPA3K13TXPCBI643
  • Story Text: South African President Jacob Zuma and former head of state Thabo Mbeki went to the house of Albertina Sisulu to pay their respects to a key figure in South Africa's anti-apartheid movement and ANC stalwart.
    Albertina Sisulu died in Johannesburg on Thursday night, SAPA news agency reported.
    Sisulu, 92, was an important figure in the ANC Women's League during the height of apartheid and was the widow of the party's former deputy president Walter Sisulu, one of former President Nelson Mandela's earliest mentors.
    Walter Sisulu spent 25 years imprisoned on Robben Island with Mandela while Albertina was subjected to house arrest and several months in jail.
    She was last seen in public in January when she visited Mandela in hospital.
    Winnie Mandela, the former of wife of former President Nelson Mandela, was among the dignitaries who visited the Sisulu home on friday.
    Zuma and dozens of other dignitaries arrived ahead of a prayer meeting, which will be taking place every evening until the day of the funeral.
    Mbeki told members of the media that Sisulu's death is a great loss to the country.
    "We pay tribute to her, we call her memory that really should inform the way we continue to behave, I'm saying that it's a loss, it's a loss to us to a lot of us personally, its a loss to the country obviously but as I said to may of us its a personal loss. She was an important guide and an important player," he said.
    The Sisulu family are prominent figures in South Africa's political landscape -- daughter Lindiwe Sisulu, is the defence minister and son Max Sisulu is a member of parliament.
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