“DR Frene Ginwala will be remembered as a pioneer of women’s rights.”
These were the words of President Cyril Ramaphosa at the special official memorial service for the first speaker of the democratic National Assembly at the Joburg City Hall on Tuesday, 24 January.
Ginwala died at home in Cape Town on 12 January, at the age of 90, following a stroke two weeks earlier.
Ramaphosa said she led a remarkable life and made a profound contribution to the cause of freedom, peace and progress.
“Ginwala played many parts. She was a journalist, an author, academic, barrister, parliamentarian, activist, feminist, pan-Africanist and internationalist,” he said.
“Yet, no roll-call of her many achievements can adequately describe the person she was nor the impact that she made in the course of her life.”
He said in bidding her farewell, they needed to recognise that the struggle for equal rights and opportunities for women was far from won.
“Despite significant progress, women are still under-represented in positions of authority, responsibility and influence across nearly all areas of public life.
“And despite the progressive policies we have pursued since democracy, women are still over-represented among the poor, unemployed and vulnerable. As Ginwala would remind us, until we have achieved equality between men and women in all spheres, we will not be free,” he added.
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Barbara Masekela said Ginwala achieved so much that she left a brilliant legacy.
“We love Ginwala and we must endeavour to emulate her,” she said.
Ginwala was laid to rest in a private ceremony earlier this month.
