By Marlan Padayachee
On the eve of the birth anniversary of her beloved political guru Nelson Mandela , ANC loyalist Jessie Yasmin Duarte lost her battle against cancer.
On Sunday, South Africa woke up to the sad news that the 68-year-old feisty ANC deputy secretary-general had passed away in the early hours of the morning.
Despite her crippling illness, Duarte shared with her liberation comrades that she wished to retire in a cottage by the sea front – but cancer dashed her dreams and journey’s end was to routed to her native Johannesburg where she made her mark as a strong anti-apartheid activist and was later rewarded as a diplomat to Mozambique.
Amidst glowing tributes, the prominent Struggle-era activist-leader, mother, grandmother and sister of a politically-linked family was accorded a semi-state funeral and buried at the Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg according to Muslim rites on Sunday afternoon.
Duarte took sick leave since 2019 at a tumultuous time at Luthuli House – a far cry from the 1990s where she jealously guarded protocol over Mandela as the SA president-in-waiting and advising Madiba whether to wear a bow-tie or suit and tie for the momentous public appearances – but struggled in later years with ANC factionalism, the ousting of strongman secretary-general Ace Magushle, and staff mutiny over non-payment of salaries in the Covid-19 pandemic years.
Unpredictable at most times, she spoke straight-faced to journalists on many of the controversial issues that confronted the ruling party – including her tenure as the only woman in the ANC Top Six leadership – the influential central committee that is the tug-boat of the government.
She became the face and voice of the troubled, cash-strapped ANC during and after the controversial, corruption-stained years of the Jacob Zuma presidency and the state capture vice-like grip of the India-born Gupta brothers.
However, tributes painted a significant picture of an extraordinary activist, whom President Cyril Ramaphosa described as a ‘strong and loyal’ cadre – something of a dynamite daughter of the epic struggle of apartheid South Africa.
