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SAFRICA-SUZMAN Jan-5-2009 (280 words) With photo. xxxi
Bishops pay tribute to Helen Suzman, 91, anti-apartheid leader
By Bronwen Dachs
Catholic News Service
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Catholic bishops in southern Africa paid tribute to the courage and faith of anti-apartheid campaigner Helen Suzman, who died Jan. 1 in Johannesburg at the age of 91.
"If ever there was a South African who epitomized the belief that you are never too small to make a difference, it was Helen Suzman," the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference said in a statement issued by Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, conference spokesman.
Suzman, who served in South Africa's legislature from 1953 to 1989 and was one of the country's most famous white crusaders against racial segregation, "was never afraid to proclaim the principles of justice and fairness, to stand up for them when the occasion demanded, and to live by them in her public and political life," the conference statement said.
The daughter of Jewish immigrants was "a woman of outstanding courage, straight as a die in making her point and fearless in exposing the injustices and inhumanity of the apartheid system and its implementation," it said.
"While she was happy and proud to witness ... the transition from apartheid to democracy, it must have broken her heart to have to live through the various manifestations of greed and corruption, of arrogance and contempt for the law and the judiciary which almost equal that of the apartheid regime," the conference said.
Mourners at her Jan. 4 funeral included President Kgalema Motlanthe, opposition leader Helen Zille. and South Africa's last president under apartheid, F.W. de Klerk.
Suzman was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and was awarded the U.N. Award for Human Rights in 1978.
END
Copyright (c) 2009 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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