Tributes
Fellow leaders tributes
“ Our country and our people have lost one of our architects of our democratic order … an architect of non-racist, non-sexist democracy who has been at the centre of it for many decades.... Not many people realize his contribution. Walter Sisulu was a giant among our people.”
- President Mbeki [Kalideen, N. (2003). ‘Nation joins hands with Sisulu family’, The Star, 7 May, p.1.]
“Many of us have gained positions, received accolades and have been acclaimed, but none of us match the leadership and humility of a great man – Walter Sisulu …. None of us can match the leadership and humanity of this man. Tonight this building is named after one of us. Walter deserves this acclaim more then all of us put together.”
- Nelson Mandela (At the opening of Nelson Mandela Foundation House in Houghton) [Wa Sepotokele, T. (2003). “Foundation’s new home honours Sisulu”, The Star, 7 May, p.3.]
“We struck up an easy relationship and I got to know him as a simple, unpretentious man with great humanity that shone through. I knew him as a man with no racist views. He wanted the country to be one whole for everyone, and his goodness shone through.”
- Helen Suzman
“He will always be known and remembered as one of the great sons of our land. He succeeded in combining intellect with a common touch.”
- Marthinus van Schalwyk
“We thank him for his contribution in the struggle, particularly in recruiting and nurturing Nelson Mandela. Had he not done so we would not have had a person of Mandela’s stature to lead the country from the quagmire it was in.”
- Bantu Holomisa
“He was smiling. He was forever smiling.”
- Ahmed Kathrada (Reflecting on his last meeting with Sisulu)
“Few visionaries are able to see their dreams fulfilled. Sisulu was fortunate enough to enjoy the new South Africa he had worked so hard and sacrificed so much to bring about.”
- Tony Leon
“We are now free, thanks to the man of steel, Walter Sisulu. Hambe kahle Xhamela. Lala ngoxolo qhawe la maqhawe. (Go well Xhamela. Rest in peace, hero among heroes)"
- Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association
“Tata Sisulu gave his all for the liberation of this country, and became an example to many of what leadership is and is not. He never hankered for positions but never shunned responsibility.”
- SA National Editors’ Forum
“He was known and loved by people far beyond South Africa’s borders for his humility, integrity, intellect and vision.”
- Kofi Annan (UN Secretary-General)
“ I know the House will join me in mourning the death of Walter Sisulu, one of the founders of the African National Congress and of modern South Africa.”
- Jack Straw (British Foreign Secretary)
“I am saddened by Sisulu’s death which is not only a great loss to South Africa but to the entire African continent.”
- Kenyan President, Mwai Kibaki
“An outstanding stalwart of our struggle has fallen … We are where we are today because of this great man, whose name will for ever be blazoned in letters of gold in the annals of our beloved land and mother continent”
- Desmond Tutu
“We have to be grateful as a community, as a people, for such leaders. I wanted to go on my knees and thank God for what He has given us … I have tremendous hope for the future, if we could have leaders like Nelson Mandela and Walter.”
- Beyers Naude (anti apartheid cleric) [(2003). “Accolades for a South African Hero”, The STAR, 7 May , p.3.]
“South Africa has lost a great man. He has left us with a legacy of what it means to be a great citizen. Walter was devoted to the cause of freedom. He risked his life in the defiance campaign. He was accused number two in the Rivonia trial. Nelson Mandela was accused number one. As a man of enormous lateral intelligence, he was the best witness we had. He went into the witness box to defend the history, aims and decisions of the ANC. He was the one who explained to the judge why the ANC had decided to form the military wing in the organization, Umkhonto we Sizwe. He was committed to the ANC. He took an active part in transforming it from a supplicant to a protest organization and to challenging the authority of the state. He did this in association with Nelson Mandela and others in the late 40s, 50s and early 60s. As a leader of the Defiance Campaign, Sisulu declared to a magistrate that he was prepared to offer his life for the freedom of all the people of South Africa. We in the legal team who defended him believed that it was his forthright manner, bravery and sincerity which persuaded a judge, who had no real feeling for the African people, that a death sentence was avoided".
- George Bizos (Walter’s advocate at the Rivonia treason trial)
“He has committed all his life to the struggle for liberation - in the legal days, in the days underground and now in prison on Robben Island and in Pollsmoor. … He uses no devices to overwhelm others. He has pride but no false pride. He has no arrogance. He has no malice. He is a plain and a straightforward man, he is a soft-spoken man, but he is a committed man, a man who makes no concessions when questions of principle are at stake. He is a decisive man but he is not an authoritarian leader. Politics is his life and he believes in people.... He is committed to the liberation of all people. He is committed to the liberation of the African women. In his family, Albertina Sisulu is a fine leader in her own right, but her capacity to lead and her political strength is also the product of a good marriage, a good political marriage that is based on genuine equality and on shared commitment. And this is why, though Walter Sisulu is absent, when people need to refer back to the history of Walter Sisulu, they can find a living reference point in Albertina Sisulu and in Walter’s children.”
- Ruth First (to Albertina and Walter Sisulu on the occasion of his 70th birthday in May 1982)
