Ramaphosa pays tribute to revolutionary and pillar of SA, Gertrude Shope

By Johnathan Paoli

The Great Hall at the University of the Witwatersrand was draped in solemn dignity as President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered a powerful and emotional eulogy at the Special Official Funeral of struggle stalwart Gertrude Shope.

Ramaphosa described Shope as a “revolutionary and a pillar of South Africa”, honouring her life, legacy and immeasurable contributions as a towering figure in the country’s liberation struggle, women’s movement and post-apartheid democracy.

“Women – our mothers, our grandmothers, our wives, our sisters, our aunts and our daughters – are izintsika. Like the pillar that holds the structure of the hut together, women hold up our homes, our families and the nation. Mama Shope’s life is and was intertwined in the fabric of our democracy,” he said.

The service was attended by national dignitaries, family, ANC stalwarts and ordinary citizens who gathered to honour a woman who spent nearly a century in the