ANC salutes former MP and Struggle stalwart
ANC Struggle stalwart and former MP Rhoda Joemat, who died at the age of 72 at the weekend, has been described as one of the provincial ANC’s most respected, admired and influential elders.
Joemat died of a heart attack at the Melomed Hospital in Gatesville on Saturday, according to her daughter, Rowena Joemat.
ANC Interim Western Cape Provincial Committee co-ordinator Ronalda Nalumango said Joemat was a person of integrity and principle.
“Auntie Rhoda leaves a legacy of selfless service to the people of South Africa, particularly the men, women and children of the Western Cape.
“Nothing was too hard for the Joemat family.
“We are indebted to them and want to thank them for their service to the Struggle for democracy,” said Nalumango on behalf of the ANC.
Nalumango said Joemat was a legend in resistance politics circles because of her pioneering role in mobilising mothers where she lived in Surrey Estate and surrounds.
“During the dark days of apartheid, Rhoda Joemat and her husband Paul turned their home into a safe haven where anti-apartheid political activists would also be fed.
“Comrades have described her as a no-nonsense person, who as a member of the (Western Cape) regional deployment committee, played a role in South Africa’s transition to democracy by identifying people who would serve the new political order,” Nalumango said.
She added that Joemat, who was a trained bookkeeper, had been a leading member of the Cape Areas Housing Action Committee, the United Women’s Congress, the UDF, and treasurer of the ANC in the Western Cape, as well as an ANC MP.
ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs described Rhoda as a committed activist and respected freedom fighter in a post on social media.
Rowena said her mother was born in Cape Town and spent her childhood in Caledon and most of her teen years in Bridgetown, Athlone, before marrying her husband Paul Joemat and moving to Surrey Estate.
A dedicated member of the Moravian Church, Joemat leaves her husband and their three children, Rowena, Bradley and Che.
Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later stage, the family said.