Anti-apartheid activist Frene Ginwala, who was the speaker of South Africa's first democratically elected National Assembly, and the first woman to hold that post, has died at the age of 90, the South African presidency announced on Friday (January 13th). African.
She died at her home on Thursday evening after suffering a stroke two weeks earlier.
“
Today we mourn the death of a formidable patriot
,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement.
A great figure
“
We have lost another great figure among a particular generation of leaders to whom we owe our freedom and to whom we owe our commitment to continue building the South Africa to which they have dedicated everything
,” he added. .
Read alsoComments by Omar Sy: “It is normal for a European war to strike our minds more than a crisis in Africa”
Frene Ginwala was appointed Speaker of the National Assembly in 1994, while Nelson Mandela was elected President, marking the end of the apartheid regime.
She held this position until 2014.
“
Many material rights and benefits enjoyed by South Africans today have their origins in the legislative program of the first democratic parliament under the leadership of Dr Ginwala
,” President Ramaphosa said.
