President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a special official funeral for late ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte and would be giving an eulogy at her funeral.
This was announced by the presidency shortly after news of the death of the ANC veteran in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The country’s official opposition, the DA said its thoughts were with the Duarte family in their time of bereavement.
“The DA extends its sincere condolences to the family and friends of ANC stalwart Jessie Duarte. Duarte held a number of positions in the South African party-political landscape,” the DA said is a statement.
The EFF in its own statement said the ANC has “lost a committed member.”
“Comrade Duarte was a fierce, firm and forthright individual who paid her dues (to) the struggle for liberation in South Africa. She was passionate about gender-equality, and fighting against forms of sexism and patriarchy,” the red berets said.
Duarte’s party said she has been suffering from cancer died in the early hours of Sunday morning and will be buried later in the day in Johannesburg according to Muslim rites.
Duarte was first admitted to hospital in November last year while her duties and functions were performed by the party’s treasurer general, Paul Mashatile.
The 68-year-old Duarte was a member of the ANC highest decision-making body between conferences the National Executive Committee, since 1997 and was first elected as the ruling party’s deputy secretary general at the Mangaung conference in 2012, with Gwede Mantashe as the secretary general.
She retained the position at the hotly contested Nasrec conference in 2017, with Ace Magashule as the secretary general. Magashule has since been suspended by the party after being charged for corruption. His suspension saw Duarte step into the role until she fell sick.
“The passing of Comrade Jessie is a great loss, not only to the family but to the democratic movement and the country as a whole. As a committed internationalist and former diplomat, not only will she be mourned by South Africa, but by colleagues and comrades on the African continent and in the international progressive movement,” ANC spokesperson, Pule Mabe, said in a statement
