Champion for gender equality and the rights of all women, Dr Frene Ginwala, who was admirably always dressed in her traditional sari, will soon be laid to rest in a private ceremony.
The 90-year-old, who was South Africa’s first democratic Parliamentary speaker, passed away on Thursday night, the Presidency confirmed earlier.
Tributes have been pouring in for the late freedom fighter.
President @CyrilRamaphosa wishes to announce, with great sadness, that Dr. Frene Ginwala, founding Speaker of South Africa’s democratic Parliament and Esteemed Member of the Order of Luthuli, has passed away. https://t.co/E1dSzfbACU#RIPFreneGinwala pic.twitter.com/B6qAskfb0T
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) January 13, 2023
The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC) released a statement shortly after the announcement of her death, saying Ginwala was an ANC stalwart but also a great constitutionalist and champion for gender equality.
She was a founding honorary member of CASAC’s Advisory Council and provided sage advice and unequivocal encouragement at the time of the council’s establishment in 2010.
CASAC executive secretary Lawson Naidoo said that Ginwala was a “fiercely independent-minded woman, who would never sacrifice her principles on the alter of political expediency”.
“She provided CASAC with staunch support, and on a personal level, I was very fortunate to benefit from her mentorship over many decades. South Africa has lost one of its greatest champions for justice and constitutional accountability,” Naidoo said.
Naidoo worked with Ginwala in exile before 1994 and subsequently, after their return to South Africa, was her political adviser during the first parliament of the democratic era.
The Tambo Foundation said it was truly devastated to learn of the passing of the liberation icon, South Africa’s first female and longest-serving Speaker of the National Assembly.
Ginwala was also the former Chair of the Tambo Foundation.
“Rest in eternal peace, Dr Ginwala. Thank you for your lifelong service to our nation,” the Foundation stated.
Leader of the DA John Steenhuisen also added his voice to the list of tributes pouring in for the stalwart.
“Today, we pay tribute to Dr Ginwala’s remarkable contribution to building South Africa’s constitutional democracy,” he said.
“On behalf of the nation and of the legislative, executive and judicial components of the State, the President offers his sincere condolences to Dr Ginwala’s family, her nephews Cyrus, Sohrab and Zavareh, and their families,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said earlier.
He further extended his condolences to Dr Ginwala’s friends, colleagues and associates in South Africa and beyond.
Born on April 25, 1932, Frene Noshir Ginwala served the anti-apartheid Struggle and South Africa’s democratic dispensation in a diversity of roles as a lawyer, academic, political leader, activist and journalist.
In 2005, she was honoured with the Order of Luthuli in Silver for her excellent contribution to the struggle against gender oppression and her tireless contribution to the struggle for a non-sexist, non-racial, just and democratic South Africa.