Building may be named after Suzman
2009-01-07 · General Property News
CAPE TOWN — The Democratic Alliance (DA) has proposed that a building in the parliamentary precinct which houses opposition party offices be named after anti-apartheid MP Helen Suzman, who died last week at the age of 91. The Marks Building was named after Sammy Marks, an industrialist and financier who served as a senator in the first Union Parliament.
DA leader Helen Zille said yesterday that she had asked speaker of the National Assembly Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde to place the issue on the agenda of the next meeting of the parliamentary oversight authority, which is responsible for parliamentary services and administration.
The DA would also like a portrait of Suzman — rescued from the parliamentary cellars by former DA leader Tony Leon and now in the DA caucus room — to be rehung in a prominent position.
Zille said the renaming of the building would be a significant gesture and would serve as a permanent tribute to Suzman’s legacy and her role as a democratic pathfinder.
“This would be a fitting way to honour the legacy of a woman who — for a long time single-handedly — fought to legitimise the notion of political opposition at a time when the governing party vilified and persecuted its opponents.
“For 13 years, between 1961 and 1974, hers was the sole voice in Parliament to oppose apartheid,” Zille said.
“It is also the appropriate way to commemorate publicly her contribution towards building a nonracial society based on constitutional democracy.”
Zille believed Suzman and people like her were given insufficient public recognition after 1994 for their role in the anti-apartheid struggle.
“Ironically, the incoming African National Congress government actively sought to minimise her legacy: one of the first things it did after the 1994 election was to take down her portrait in P arliament.
“We have always been aware that Helen Suzman’s service was to the nation as a whole.
“What is often forgotten in the tributes to Helen, is that she opposed power abuse, corruption, patronage and racism in government both before and after 1994,” Zille said.
She said Suzman’s family had expressed support for the renaming, though about a month ago Suzman rejected a suggestion that Houghton Drive in Johannesburg be renamed Helen Suzman Drive.
DA leader Helen Zille said yesterday that she had asked speaker of the National Assembly Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde to place the issue on the agenda of the next meeting of the parliamentary oversight authority, which is responsible for parliamentary services and administration.
The DA would also like a portrait of Suzman — rescued from the parliamentary cellars by former DA leader Tony Leon and now in the DA caucus room — to be rehung in a prominent position.
Zille said the renaming of the building would be a significant gesture and would serve as a permanent tribute to Suzman’s legacy and her role as a democratic pathfinder.
“This would be a fitting way to honour the legacy of a woman who — for a long time single-handedly — fought to legitimise the notion of political opposition at a time when the governing party vilified and persecuted its opponents.
“For 13 years, between 1961 and 1974, hers was the sole voice in Parliament to oppose apartheid,” Zille said.
“It is also the appropriate way to commemorate publicly her contribution towards building a nonracial society based on constitutional democracy.”
Zille believed Suzman and people like her were given insufficient public recognition after 1994 for their role in the anti-apartheid struggle.
“Ironically, the incoming African National Congress government actively sought to minimise her legacy: one of the first things it did after the 1994 election was to take down her portrait in P arliament.
“We have always been aware that Helen Suzman’s service was to the nation as a whole.
“What is often forgotten in the tributes to Helen, is that she opposed power abuse, corruption, patronage and racism in government both before and after 1994,” Zille said.
She said Suzman’s family had expressed support for the renaming, though about a month ago Suzman rejected a suggestion that Houghton Drive in Johannesburg be renamed Helen Suzman Drive.
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