SASCO TRIBUTE TO THE LATE ANC DSG CDE YASMIN JESSIE DUARTE AS DELIVERED BY SASCO NEC MEMBER: CDE LUVUYO BARNES IN GAUTENG (Thursday, 21 July 2022)
Program Director
Former President of the ANC and South Africa Comrade Thabo Mbeki
The NEC of the ANC
The Central committee of the SACP
The Central committee of COSATU
The Central committee of NEHAWU
The NCPC of the ANCYL
Leadership of uFasimba
Leadership of COSAS
Fraternal Organisations of the Student Movement,
Comrades and Friends,
It has been a difficult week for the Mass Democratic Movement, death has been relentless, plucking away on the ripest of fruits of our movement at a time we so desperately need them within our ranks, The moral compasses and authority that we need to redefine ourself as a movement, and champion the interests of the downtrodden masses of our people.
In the past couple of weeks, we have had to constantly send out messages of condolences to the families of beacons of hope, integral figures of our society and more over comrades that dreamed and lived in the pursuit of the national democratic revolution, amongst them is this liberator we remember today, Yasmin Duarte our mother.
A daughter of KOFIFI is with us no more, a glaring light for the dispossessed people of South Africa, an icon of activism. As we stand in front of you as the revolutionary student movement we reflect on a life lived beyond measure, a life worth celebrating, a life that contributed immensely to the freedom we enjoy today, a revolutionary who lived a life in service to the people.
Her Passing comes at a difficult time for our movement, a time when we need to introspect and a time we need to revive the movement she dearly loved and served. Her passing leaves a vacuum, a moral authority that kept the ship afloat when all doomsayers declared all is falling apart.
She leaves us at a time we go through difficulties as a people, rising fuel prices, the austerity measures that impact higher education and the poor, the retrenchment of our people in work places, a projected increase in the repo rate, we only ask ourselves “who will fight this injustice in her absence?”.
Let us as we celebrate this great leader of our movement and recommit ourselves to the struggles of our people, our movement must ensure that no student is denied an education simply because they cannot afford, let us commit ourselves as we leave here today that we will go back to our communities and fight the scourge of gender based violence, let us declare that our movement will in Mama Jessie’s memory defeat Youth unemployment, let the time for nicely worded speeches with no action be done.
Let us unite as our DSG taught us, Unite in action to uplifting ALL our people and giving them a truly better life.
Let the spirit of our beloved DSG live on in our activism, her lessons reflected in our commitment to the cause of our people.
Future generations must through our deeds as those who remain learn that the was once a short but towering figure which was Yasmin Jessie Duarte.
To the family, be at peace, be at ease, you have blessed South Africa and our movement with a dedicated human rights activist, unshaken by the atrocities of the apartheid regime, who stood with our people and mobilized them in all corners of country for a common purpose of United, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous democratic South Africa.
Hamba Kahle Mama Jessie
Thank You
21st NEC of SASCO