Thousands of people attended the funeral service of late public works minister Stella Sigcau at her birthplace of Lusikisiki on Tuesday. Those attending the ceremony ahead of her cremation included President Thabo Mbeki, Cabinet ministers and traditional leaders.
Mbeki told the gathering he was greatly saddened that Sigcau (69) died before completing the tasks she had set herself. He said he had agreed to relieve her of her responsibilities in June.
She had told him she needed the few months to June to ensure the government’s expanded public works programme was working effectively, especially concerning the youth and women.
”I agreed to her requests, [which were] moved by the unselfish spirit that informed her decision voluntarily to give up her ministerial position, so that a younger person could replace her,” Mbeki said.
He said once Sigcau returned to private life she had hoped to work in rural development.
Mbeki said that as a member of the African National Congress and a traditional African princess during the apartheid era, Sigcau had been determined to contribute everything she could to ensure that the African majority should ”no longer be used by the white minority as beasts of burden”.
He said South Africans should never forget what Sigcau did for the democratic movement.
”Stella Sigcau stood out among her generation of fighters for liberation as a unique individual,” Mbeki said.
There are many people today who can tell moving stories about Sigcau, including how she helped bring dignity to the rural women of the former Transkei homeland.
Others will tell how as public enterprises minister (her first portfolio) she aimed to enable all black professionals, especially women, to reach for the skies, by removing the race and gender ceiling.
”I am saddened by the fact that Nkosazana Stella Sigcau departed the world of the living before she completed the tasks she had set herself.
”At the same time, I feel elevated that from near and afar, and for half a century, I could attach myself to such a noble human being as was Nkosazana Stella Margaret Nomzamo Sigcau,” he said.
The eight speakers at the funeral included the Judge President of KwaZulu-Natal, Vuka Tshabalala, and Chief Ngangomhlaba Matanzima, who spoke on behalf on the National House of Traditional Leaders.
ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma received resounding applause from the mourners when he was introduced.
Two large marquees with two large screens showing the funeral proceedings were set up to accommodate the mourners. — Sapa