Farewell speech by Minister Trevor Manuel for Ms Susan Van Der Merwe, National Assembly

13 November 2013

Honourable Speaker

Ministers

Members of Parliament

J P and Caroline van der Merwe

I am honoured to have the privilege of making a farewell speech to Ms Susan van der Merwe today. It does, however, feel a bit strange that we are experiencing the voluntary departure of someone this young.

I got to know Sue better when we worked together on the Mont Fleur Scenario Planning exercise. That clearly must date us. We have worked together as Members of Parliament, as members of the Executive, as members of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress and as friends. This means that we have seen through at least four national and provincial election campaigns; the same number of local government campaigns; a number of by-elections and, of course, hundreds of meetings.

One of the attributes that Sue always brings into everything that she does is that of laughter. So, for example, during election time we would be sent off to campaign in various parts of the country and I would be deployed to the metropolis of Springbok or Upington and Sue would be sent to Spoegrivier or Leliefontein and she would love every moment of it. She never sees it as punishment. She laughs about it; she loves it; she loves the stories people tell her. Perhaps she secretly enjoys the amazing humour of ‘die Van der Merwe tannie van die ANC'.

The second attribute that she has always had is that of approachability because she embraces people with warmth and consistency and an ear to listen to the issues that they want to raise. That combination of patience and warmth is what draws people to her. I suppose it is the effect of the many things that she had modelled her life on from her work in the Black sash through to being an active member of the National Executive Committee.

The third attribute that Sue brings is style. Sue has a lot of style. Her presence has always served to counteract the caricature of African National Congress made up of people in Che Guevara berets and t-shirts. It is a style defined not only by the clothes that she wears but by the grace with which she carries herself.

One of the most important attributes that Sue brings is that of engagement. She would take on issues, often fiercely and passionately debating the merits. She would take up issues especially where it may grate against her value system. Issues of racism, sexism, tribalism, in fact most of the -isms, will see her take a position. This passion we see displayed because Sue lives out those values through her belief system. I want to quote from an address that she delivered at the University of Pretoria in December 2008 that demonstrates Sue's sense of values and principles:

In South Africa, the journey to freedom and democracy was one in which many people made great sacrifices. South Africa endured many trials and overcame many obstacles to get to the first democratic election in 1994. It was indeed a long struggle that claimed many lives. Ours was a just struggle and ultimately South Africans achieved that which they had fought so hard to bring about, a new non-racial, non-sexist democratic South Africa.

South Africans also know that they were not alone in their struggle against apartheid. On our continent and throughout the world people stood in solidarity with the struggle against apartheid. This international solidarity against apartheid in

South Africa was by all accounts a critical factor in creating the conditions for the peaceful transition to the new South Africa. A new South Africa that was ultimately founded on principles and values enshrined in our Constitution.

I found a quote from one of Nelson Mandela's notebooks where he says that:

Leadership falls into two categories: (a) those who are inconsistent, whose actions cannot be predicted, who would agree today and repudiate the following day and (b) those who are constant with a sense of honour and a vision.

It is abundantly clear that Sue is a distinguished part of the second category of constant and value-driven leaders. A mutual friend, the late Kader Asmal titled his biography, ‘Politics is in my blood'. So it is with Sue. Her participation here in Parliament since she was first sworn in as a member of Parliament on 15 January 1996, her appointment as the Parliamentary Counsellor to President Mbeki in 2001, her appointment as Deputy Minister responsible for international relations in 2004, her time on the backbenches thereafter and her work in the ANC is characterised by her love for politics and a clear sense of honour.

Even though she is resigning as a Member of Parliament, she remains a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress and I'm pretty sure that we will see her on the hustings for the next elections. I really can't figure out why she is leaving just now

There is a really interesting story about Sue when she was a new MP. She had been assigned an office in this building, the New Wing, on the fifth floor but it was one of those offices on the inside passage with no windows. It was a tiny hole in the wall essentially. She was quite keen to get an office with a window and there was a particular view that she wanted so she commissioned a friend of hers to paint a picture of the Tuynhuis gardens. In the middle of this big picture, that was designed to look like a window, was Madiba standing in the gardens. It was a picture that took pride of place in subsequent offices when she did get a window. This is an example of the perseverance and positivity that characterises the approach that Sue takes with challenge that she faces.

Among the many things that Sue's departure creates a difficulty because the Inkatha Freedom Party are now two-nil up on the Van der Merwe score.

I am not sure how many members here today know that before Sue was a Van der Merwe, she was Susan Comber Young and so I want to say again, it is odd for one so young to be leaving. She recently went off to Scotland with her brother to trace her roots and she found that her ancestors were mainly Young. It seems appropriate therefore for me to use the words of one of the poets of our generation, Bob Dylan in wishing her well:

May God bless and keep you always

May your wishes all come true

May you always do for others

And let others do for you

May you build a ladder to the stars

And climb on every rung

May you stay forever young

Forever young, forever young

May you stay forever young.

I want to take this opportunity on behalf of all my colleagues in the African National Congress represented here and in the party in general to wish Susan van der Merwe well in her future endeavours. I do want to reiterate that having released her from this deployment, she is not let off scot-free. Her contribution to this institution, to government and to building a better South Africa is one that will endure and be remembered for the qualities that she has consistently displayed during her tenure.

Issued by the Presidency, November 13 2013

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