Hon Speaker, the ACDP learned with sadness of the death of Sister Bernard Ncube on Friday. She had been serving as the mayor of the West Rand region of Johannesburg.
Sister Bernard was born in Johannesburg in 1933. She attended college in Lesotho, where she received a Diploma in Theology, entered the Companions Catholic Order and was a teacher until 1960.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Sister Bernard helped to form local women's organisations and was elected president of the Federation of Transvaal Women in 1984.
She was detained six times under emergency regulations, including a time when she spent three months in solitary confinement. When her cause received international attention, she was freed, but rearrested on charges of sedition and subversion, which were later withdrawn by the state when no substantial evidence could be found.
In 1994, when Sister Bernard took office as a Member of Parliament and chaired the Portfolio Committee on Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, I was also a Member of Parliament. I did not sit on any portfolio committee with her, but I did notice that in my first five years in Parliament, whenever I was on the speakers' list, Sister Bernard would always be either directly before me or directly after me on that list.
She was known and respected for her part in the struggle for the rights of women and children. She has been referred to as an unorthodox nun, particularly because she argued for abortion during her participation in the debate on the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill.
The ACDP extends its condolences to her Mother Superior, sister nuns, ANC colleagues and all who knew and loved her.