Ramaphosa pays tribute to anti-apartheid activist and reverend, Dr Tshenuwani Farisani
Ramaphosa was speaking at Farisani’s funeral at the University of Venda in Thohoyandou, Limpopo.
FILE: President Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: GCIS
JOHANNEBSURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to anti-apartheid activist and reverend, Dr Tshenuwani Farisani, describing him as an extraordinary man who will be dearly remembered.
Ramaphosa was speaking at Farisani’s funeral at the University of Venda in Thohoyandou, Limpopo.
The reverend is being honoured with a special official provincial funeral.
Family, mourners and top government officials, including president Ramaphosa and Limpopo Premier, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, gathered to pay their final respects to reverend Farisani.
A Lutheran minister and black consciousness activist, Farisani played a key role in the struggle against Apartheid.
His activism led to his appointment as a member of Parliament and later Speaker of the Limpopo provincial legislature in 2004.
The 76-year-old died on Thursday after suffering from an undisclosed illness.
President Ramaphosa said: "These experiences instilled in him a deep sense of understanding injustice. It was planted in the mind and the head of Dr Farisani, the seeds of political consciousness when he was still a teen."
He is survived by his wife, two daughters, and a son.