SAD FAREWELL TO A PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITY

THE sad passing of Lorraine Botha MPL on the last day of Women’s Month is significant. The dreadful news of her untimely death was met with great grief across the caucus of the ANC in the Western Cape Provincial Legislature. At such a time, political differences are put aside to appreciate life and to acknowledge the great strides the person had made to improve the lot of others.

The late Ms Botha served as my counterpart, as chief whip, for the DA for just under three months.

We had entered the legislature together in 2014 and had to learn the ropes of serving the people of the Western Cape together. A hard worker who died with her boots on, Ms Botha was impeccable in her appearance and gracious in her demeanour.

Whereas we thought she could have done more to hold the provincial government to account, she did not think twice of holding fellow members of the provincial legislature accountable.

When fellow MPLs referred to oversight visits as “trips”, she would promptly remind them that it was not a trip but that they were still doing their jobs.

These visits, funded by the taxpayer, deserved the necessary professionalism and had to produce the required outcomes. First and foremost, for Ms Botha, came the people of the Western Cape.

During her first term, the Honourable Botha served as chairperson of the standing committee of the premier and constitutional affairs.

In 2015, she led the processes on the proposed amendments to sections 71 and 78 of the Constitution of the Western Cape.

Though neither of these amendments were eventually passed, the Honourable Botha emphasised at the time that “engagement by the Western Cape Provincial Parliament with the people of the province is a function of democratic constitutionalism. It amounts to government by the people as it allows for public input into matters that affect citizens.” She was a committed democrat.

When she was elected chairperson of the standing committee of health and social development in 2016, the Honourable Botha spoke up strongly on the safety of emergency medical services in the province.

At the same time, she also championed the rights of the poor, especially Sassa grant recipients, by ensuring that their disputes were attended to.

In 2019, Ms Botha was elected as the chairperson of the education standing committee and prioritised the welfare of educators and learners.

Paying tribute to the former maths educator, Thulani Manqoyi, at Heinz Park Primary School, when he was shot and killed while sitting in his car on the school’s premises in 2021, Ms Botha said that “teachers are pillars of communities, and there is no doubt that Mr Manqoyi leaves behind a legacy of upliftment to all who passed through his classroom”.

As a former teacher and a pillar in our provincial parliament, Ms Botha went on to chair the standing committee on the premier and constitutional affairs again, earlier this year, and was then promoted as the DA’s first black woman to be chief whip in the legislature.

The significance for me, the ANC’s first woman chief whip, was not lost and, while she had succeeded Mireille Wenger MPL, there was consolation that our provincial legislature was finally giving recognition to capable women.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with her family, her children and colleagues in the DA.

As someone who loved the West Coast, the words of Afrikaans poet, Ingrid Jonker, come to mind when thinking of Lorraine Botha: “small blue Namaqualand daisy, answering something, believing something, knowing something.”