By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

26 May 2025- The heartfelt condolences messages continue to pour in after the death of former ANCWL president and Member of Parliament (MP), Getrude Shope who passed away at the age of 99. The Republic of South Africa (RSA) president, Cyril Ramaphosa who has expressed his profound sadness, described Shope as an educator, freedom fighter and a trade unionist.

Ramaphosa said Ma Shope, as she was affectionately known, was a recipient in 2003 of the official Order for Meritorious Service (Silver), which recognised South Africans who had rendered exceptional public service, and which preceded the present-day National Orders. He further offered his deep condolences to Ma Shope’s daughters, Lyndall Shope-Mafole and South African Ambassador to Cuba, Thaninga Shope-Linney.

“Their father was the late trade unionist, freedom fighter and revolutionary intellectual Mark Shope, and their brother, Lenin Magigwane Shope, who had been South Africa’s Ambassador to Senegal, passed away in December 2020.

“We have lost an eminent national heroine and mother to our nation. During a lifetime of close to a century, Ma Shope made a monumental contribution to our struggle for a free and inclusive South Africa, while inspiring generations of women and men to emulate her commitment,” said Ramaphosa.

He added that Ma Shope’ sacrifice, service and revolutionary bravery played out in formations from the African National Congress – where she was elected President of the Women’s League in 1990 – to the Federation of South African Women, the World Federation of Trade Unions and the first Parliament of the democratic South Africa.

“Her sacrifice included almost a quarter century in exile with her husband Mark and children in locations ranging from Botswana, Tanzania and Zambia to the then Czechoslovakia.

“She organised women and communities in our country as well as international organisations to oppose apartheid and alleviate the plight of oppressed communities while the struggle was underway,” said Ramaphosa.

He said Ma Shope also had the distinction of being listed as a co-conspirator in the Rivonia Trial, alongside Oliver Tambo, Joe Slovo, Ben Turok, Duma Nokwe, Joe Modise, Jack Hodgson and others. Ramaphosa said she was indeed an mbokodo that apartheid failed to erode or fracture, and she entered our first democratic Parliament in 1994, with a vibrancy and vision that made her an exemplary first-generation parliamentarian.

“Shope lives on in our national memory and her life’s work is reflected in the transformation we have attained and continue to effect in our society.

“May her soul rest in peace,” he said.

National Assembly speaker, Thoko Didiza said Shope was a principled and pioneering woman, a fearless voice for justice and a towering figure whose life embodied the spirit of South Africa’s long and painful struggle for freedom. Didiza said following the historic democratic breakthrough and South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, Ma-Shope became part of the first generation of Members of Parliament in a free and democratic South Africa.

“In this historic role, she was instrumental in transforming Parliament from a symbol of oppression into a people’s institution rooted in transparency, inclusivity, and constitutional values.

“She helped lay the foundations of a democratic legislature that would reflect the will of all South Africans, contributing to the building of laws and institutions anchored in human dignity, equality, and justice,” she said.

Meanwhile, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) national spokesperson, Zanele Sabela said: “It is through stalwarts of Ma Shope’s caliber and many others who dedicated their lives through the liberation movement to serving the masses that the nation attained the democracy it now enjoys.

“Her character was revealed early in her life in her 20s, when she abandoned her personal aspirations, joining the African National Congress (ANC) to resist a brutal political system.”

Sabela said Shope’s initial resistance to the apartheid regime was proven by the bold decision to relinquish her teaching career as part of the campaign to boycott Bantu Education. She said Shope was instrumental in carving the recognition of human rights, the amplification of the voice of women, fearless in pursuit of justice for the vulnerable and equality for women, carrying these principles to Parliament after the 1994 elections. 

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