Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has conveyed his deep sense of condolences to the family and friends of Mme Ruth Segomotsi Mompati.
She was one of the longest serving members, a stalwart and Isithwalandwe/Seaparankoe of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), who passed on this morning after a long illness. She was 89 years.
"The whole nation is mourning, in particular those who worked with Mme Ruth from exile to Parliament and various structures of both the ANC and government. We feel an immense void. She joined the struggle for the liberation of South Africa when she was a little girl and continued to serve her country and her people till her very last days," said President Zuma on Tuesday.
"On behalf of government and the entire country, we wish to convey our deepest sense of condolence to her family and comrades. May her soul rest in peace," added the President.
Mama Ruth, as she was passionately known, was a former typist at Mandela Tambo attorneys. She later became a became a member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC Women’s League and become one of the founder members of the Federation of South African Women the following year.
She was also one of the organisers and leaders of the Anti-Pass Law march in Pretoria on 9 August 1956.
She left the country for Military training with MKhondo We Sizwe in the then Soviet Union before working for the ANC in Tanzania and Zambia.
In 1990, she was part of the ANC delegation that negotiated the peaceful transition with the government at Groote Schuur.
In 1994, she was elected to the National Assembly and served as a Member of Parliament from 1994 to1996 before she become an Ambassador to Switzerland until 2000 and then the Mayor of Naledi Municipality in Vryburg, where she resided. – SAnews.gov.za
