6 May 2003
Johannesburg - African National Congress veteran Walter Sisulu, born in 1912, the year the ANC was founded, died on Monday. He would have turned 91 on May 18. He died at his Johannesburg home, in the arms of his wife Albertina, herself a legend in her own lifetime.
News of the death of anti-apartheid struggle veteran Walter Sisulu was broken to President Thabo Mbeki on Monday night, while he was in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo told SABC radio news that the president was in Congo attending talks on the peace process. The president paid tribute to "a leader who gave his life to the struggle with absolute selflessness."
The president extended condolences to his "lovely wife Albertina and to the entire (Sisulu) family", said Khumalo.
"The nation will have to see how best to mark his death ... he will have to be given a funeral that befits the role and place that he played in the liberation struggle," said Khumalo on the president's behalf.
Sisulu's death was officially announced late on Monday night, and almost immediately his old friend, world statesman Nelson Mandela sent a tribute. "Xhamela is no more. May he live forever! His absence has carved a void. A part of me is gone," Mandela lamented.
The ANC responded to the news with deep sorrow. "It is with a heavy heart and profound sense of loss that the African National Congress learned of the death this evening (Monday) of Isithwalandwe Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu, a giant of the liberation struggle and one of the founding fathers of South Africa's democracy," the ANC said in a statement.
Secretary General Kgalema Motlanthe extended the party's condolences to the Sisulu family. "We join them in mourning the loss of a father and a hero," he said.
The ANC paid tribute to Sisulu, who it described as an African patriot whose heroism, humility and leadership earned him the respect and love of millions of people.
The New National Party's tribute followed soon after Mandela's. Leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk said South Africa had lost a formidable leader who had strived his whole life to bring about democratic and just dispensation.
"He will always be known and remembered as one of the great sons of our land. He succeeded in combining intellect with a common touch. The New National Party would like to extend our sympathy to his family and large circle of friends."
Mandela's impassioned statement spoke of a 62-year-old friendship. "Our paths first intersected in 1941. During the past 62 years our lives have been intertwined. We shared the joy of living, and the pain," Mandela said in a statement sent to Sapa late on Monday night.
"Together we shared ideas, forged common commitments. We walked side by side through the valley of death, nursing each other's bruises, holding each other up when our steps faltered. Together we savoured the taste of freedom.
"In a sense I feel cheated by Walter. If there be another life beyond this physical world I would have loved to be there first so that I could welcome him. Life has determined otherwise," Mandela added.
"I now know that when my time comes, Walter will be there to meet me, and I am almost certain he will hold out an enrolment form to register me into the ANC in that world, cajoling me with one of his favourite songs (which) we sang when mobilising people behind the Freedom Charter.
"I shall miss his friendship and counsel. Till we meet again, Hamba kahle, Xhamela. Qhawe la ma Qhawe! (Go well, Rest in Peace, Xhamela. Hero among heroes.)"
Tony Leon the leader of the Democratic Alliance said the death of Walter Sisulu marks the passing of one of South Africa's great heroes. "He will long be remembered as one of the founding fathers of a non-racial, democratic South Africa.
"Few visionaries are able to see their dreams fulfilled. Walter Sisulu was fortunate enough to enjoy the new South Africa that he had worked so hard and sacrificed so much to bring about," Leon said.
Bantu Holomisa the UDM leader said that above and beyond all else, Walter Sisulu will be remembered for recruiting and nurturing Nelson Mandela, who went on to become one of the greatest statesmen in living memory.
"For this South Africans and the world owe him an eternal debt of gratitude," Holomisa said. - News24/I-Net Bridge