Parliamentary session for icons
PARLIAMENT will on Thursday hold a joint session to pay tribute to the late Struggle stalwarts Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Zola Skweyiya.
Yesterday, Parliament’s spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said the joint sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces would allow both Houses to jointly pay tribute to the two anti-apartheid stalwarts.
“Both late veterans made a remarkable contribution to the attainment of our country’s democracy and therefore the sitting will afford the institution and its parliamentarians, on behalf of the people, an opportunity to honour them,” Mothapo said.
He said the decision was made by the joint programming committee of both Houses in line with the constitution and the joint rules of Parliament.
“The parties in both Houses will determine their own speakers for both debates,” Mothapo said.
The iconic Mama Winnie, who was regarded by many as “the mother of the nation”, died in a Johannesburg hospital on April 2 after a long illness.
She was given a special official funeral at Orlando Stadium in Joburg on April 14. She was an MP at the time of her death.
Skweyiya died on April11 and was also given an official funeral, on April21.
Skweyiya served as minister of public service and administration from 1994 to 1999 and later as minister of social development, before retiring as an MP in 2009.
He also served as high commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ireland after his retirement from Parliament.