Today marks the 10-day countdown to the centenary celebrations of Mama Albertina Sisulu.
Sisulu would be 100 years old on 21 October had she lived.
A qualified nurse, midwife and activist, Ma Sisulu, as she was affectionately known, was born on 21 October 1918 in the Eastern Cape and died on 2 June 2011.
She was married to Walter Sisulu, the veteran African National Congress politician, who died in 2003.
She will forever be remembered as a fearless leader in the struggle and a mother to the nation. She worked tirelessly towards creating a better and more equitable South Africa.
Throughout her life, she worked to ensure that all people in South Africa get access to the benefits of freedom and democracy.
Sisulu played a leading role in the struggle for the liberation of the country and was one of the organisers and leaders of the historic Women’s March to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 9 August 1956, alongside Lillian Ngoyi, Sophie de Bruyn, Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa.
Government announced 2018 as the year of her centenary celebration under the theme ‘Albertina Sisulu: A woman of fortitude’. This is in recognition of her courage, discipline, integrity and love for her country.
The 100-year centenary of the life of Albertina Sisulu is a reminder of all those who made sacrifices beyond measure to liberate the country.
A series of commemorative events have been held throughout the year, including the Albertina Sisulu Executive Leadership Programme in Health Graduation Ceremony in July, held in conjunction with the Universities of Fort Hare, Pretoria and Harvard.
A number of Albertina Sisulu centenary memorial lectures and roundtable discussions were also held throughout the country, including a memorial lecture held on Tuesday at the University of Pretoria, where Graca Machel hailed the late Sisulu as a courageous woman, who was passionate about helping others.
In another lecture hosted by Science and Technology Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane in Cape Town, author and social activist Elinor Sisulu, who is married to former Speaker of Parliament Max Sisulu, said it is her hope that the story of Ma Sisulu would live on through her legacy and that young people and generations to come would write essays to keep her story alive. – SAnews.gov.za
