JOHANNESBURG (AP) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to the long-serving deputy secretary-general of his ruling African National Congress (ANC) party Jessie Duarte, who died on Sunday after a long battle with cancer.
Duarte, 68, was elected to the leading position in the ANC in 2012 and had been serving until she went on medical leave in November last year.
“Although our beloved comrade Jessie has been gravely ill for several months, it is difficult to comprehend that someone with such vitality and such spirit has departed this earth,” Ramaphosa told mourners on Sunday.
“Comrade Jessie was a faithful, dedicated and fiercely loyal leader of the African National Congress,” said Ramaphosa.
He praised her for fighting for women’s rights during and after South Africa’s struggle against white minority rule which ended in 1994.
An official funeral according to Islamic rites was held for Duarte at the Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg where she was buried on Sunday.
An official memorial service will be held later this week.
