Riyaz Patel
President Cyril Ramaphosa has honoured Chester Williams, the late Springbok wing, with a Special Provincial Official Funeral (Category 2).
The 49-year-old veteran of the 1995 Rugby World Cup – and the first player of colour to represent the Springboks since the 80s – passed on Friday, 6 September 2019.
Williams’ funeral will be held at the Newlands Rugby Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday 14 September 2019.
In terms of the declaration by the President, contain ceremonial elements will provided by the South African Police Service.
President Ramaphosa also instructed that the National Flag fly at half-mast in the Western Cape Province on the day of Williams’ funeral.
Regulations require that no other flags (SAPS, SANDF, corporate flags, etc) be displayed when the National Flag is flown at half-mast.
Paying tribute to anti-apartheid activist Adelaine Hain
President Ramaphosa also paid tribute to anti-apartheid activist Adelaine Hain – mother of human rights activist and senior British politician Lord Peter Hain – who passed away in England aged 92.
“Banning orders and arrests failed to extinguish Adelaine Hain’s patriotic struggle against an unjust system. She deserves our respect and gratitude for mobilising her own family as much as she mobilised communities to dismantle apartheid,” Ramaphosa said of Adelaine who was born in Port Alfred.
In the early 60s she was successively jailed, banned and exiled to Britain.
Her son, Peter, grew up in South Africa and was educated in Pretoria.
Peter said one of his mother’s prominent achievements in the fight against the evil apartheid system was a leading role in the militant Stop the Seventy Tour campaign, which forced the cancellation of the 1970 all-white South African cricket tour to Britain.
