MUST READ: Post Office honours Helen Suzman in her birth month
Helen Suzman will be posthumously honoured by the SA Post Office, with a limited edition print of stamps bearing her likeness.
The South African Post Office (SAPO) has honoured Helen Suzman in the month of her birth.
On November 7 this year, the noted struggle stalwart would have been 100 years old.
In recognition of her selfless efforts, SAPO has issued a stamp in her honour.
According to a press release,on, the stamp sheet was designed by Rachel Ackermann of SAPO.
These stamps can be used on ordinary domestic postage.
Only 30 000 stamp sheets will be printed.
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Stamps can be ordered from SA.Stamps@postoffice.co.za or purchased at SAPO outlets.
Here is a brief biography of the famed struggle stalwart.
- Helen Suzman was born Helen Gavronsky on November 7, 1917 in Germiston.
- Her parents were Jewish Lithuanian immigrants who fled to South Africa to escape oppression.
- She matriculated from Parktown Convent in 1933.
- At the age of 19, she married cardiologist, Moses Meyer Suzman.
- Suzman attended Witwatersrand University and earned a Degree in Economics and Economic History in 1940.
- In 1945, Suzman became a tutor at Wits University and also mothered two daughters: Frances and Patricia.
- Suzman became a Member of Parliament in 1953.
- She would serve Parliament for another 36 years.
- For the early part of her political career, was the only female in a heavily patriarchal institution.
“She consistently challenged discriminatory legislation and the spate of security laws introduced by the apartheid-era government,” SAPO’s released continued.
- Suzman’s refusal to be indifferent earned her two Nobel Peace Prize nominations and 27 honorary doctorates.
- She remained humble however, even refusing to be named Dame of the British Empire.
- In 1967, she visited political prisoners, which infuriated her fellow Members of Parliament.
- Nelson Mandela’s esteem for Suzman was clearly conveyed in his message to her on her 85th birthday:
“We can but pay tribute to you, thank you and let you know how fortunate our country feels for having had you as part of its public life and politics.”
- In her later years, Suzman served as President of the South African Institute for Race Relations and was a member of the SA Human Rights Commission.
- She also served as a delegate to CODESA (Convention for a Democratic South Africa).
- Suzman died on January 1, 2009, having retained both her vision and purpose until her last.
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