By Charmaine Ndlela
President Cyril Ramaphosa is in Chicago, Illinois, to deliver a tribute to the late Reverend Dr Jesse Louis Jackson Senior, who died on 17 February at the age of 84.
Ramaphosa had earlier expressed condolences on Jackson’s death, describing the veteran US civil rights leader’s campaigns against apartheid and support for South Africa’s liberation struggle as a major contribution to the global anti-apartheid cause.
The Presidency said Ramaphosa would join members of the Jackson family, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the broader US civil rights movement, and other American and international dignitaries in paying tribute to the late reverend.
The Presidency said Ramaphosa would deliver a tribute at a private homegoing celebration for Jackson, a day after a public memorial service in Chicago attended by former US presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, among other dignitaries.
In 2013, Jackson was awarded South Africa’s National Order of the Companions of OR Tambo in Silver for “dedicating his life to challenging societies and governments to recognise that all people are born equal and that everyone is equally entitled to life, liberty, prosperity and human rights”.
The honour recognised his contribution to the struggle against apartheid.
INSIDE POLITICS
