Rustenberg - The death of African National Congress stalwart Ruth Mompati is a loss to the entire country, the mayor of Rustenburg Mpho Khonou said on Friday.
“I want to say to her family that their loss is our loss, it is not only the loss of the North West province, but the entire South African nation. The freedom we enjoy in our country today is attributed to the role she played so significantly because of the values she subscribed to and stood for,” Khonou said.
Mompati, 89, affectionately known as MaRuth, died on Tuesday, in Cape Town.
Her body was airlifted from Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria to Vryburg on Thursday. The North West provincial government, her family and communities from around Naledi local municipality received her body in her hometown. It has been taken to a local mortuary, until her burial next week.
The Dr Segomotsi Ruth Mompati District Municipality which was named after her, said she dedicated her life to building South Africa. “We are mourning the passing of the Luthuli detachment. The spear has fallen and it has left an immeasurable void in the hearts of my fellow South Africans and beyond,” said district mayor, Choganyetso Elvis Tladinyane.
“Her commitment to the liberation struggle should serve as nothing but an inspiration and springboard towards building non-racial, non-sexist, prosperous and democratic country.”
President Jacob Zuma has declared a special official funeral for Mompati.
She was born on September 14, 1925 in Tlapeng village. Mompati worked for Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo in their law firm in Johannesburg in 1953. She joined the ANC in 1954 and was elected to the national executive committee of the Women’s League.
Mompati was involved in the defiance campaign in 1952, and was a founding member of the Federation of South African Women in 1954. She went into exile in 1962 where she underwent military training and held office as secretary and head of the women’s section of the ANC in Tanzania. From 1966 to 1973, Mompati remained a member of the ANC’s national executive committee.
The liberation struggle veteran was part of the delegation that opened talks with the South African government at Groote Schuur in 1990. She was elected a member of Parliament in 1994. Mompati was also appointed ambassador to Switzerland from 1996 to 2000, and on her return became the mayor of Vryburg (Naledi) in the North-West.
ANA