Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) deputy president Violet Seboni was killed in a car accident while travelling to Mafikeng for an African National Congress (ANC) election campaign, the union said on Saturday.
Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said
the accident occurred in Ventersdorp on Friday night.
”With deep sadness, Cosatu regrets to report the passing away of its deputy president in a car accident near Ventersdorp. The federation sends its condolences to all her family, friends and comrades who have lost a great champion of the workers’ struggle,” Craven said.
He could not, however, provide details of the accident and police in the North West could not immediately confirm the incident.
”We don’t know of any accident that occurred in Ventersdrop last night,” spokesperson Captain Adéle Myburgh said.
Craven described Seboni as a ”wonderful person” and an exceptional workers’ leader.
Seboni’s active involvement in trade unions spans two decades. She was first elected as a shop steward in the South African Clothing and
Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) in 1989 and 10 years later, she became the first woman chairperson of her branch.
She was elected Cosatu’s second deputy president in 2003 and led the union’s delegation to Zimbabwe a year later.
”We have lost a revolutionary heroine who devoted her whole life to the struggle to liberate her people and build a socialist world. She will be sorely missed and her contribution will never be forgotten,” said Craven. — Sapa