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President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his deep sadness at the passing of theologian, former Member of Parliament and former Speaker of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature, Dr Tshenuwani Simon Farisani, who has passed away at the age of 76.
President Ramaphosa offers his condolences to the family, friends and comrades of Dr Farisani who was a co-founder, alongside the President and the late Tshifhiwa Isaac Muofhe, of the Black Evangelic Youth Organisation in the early 1970s.
Rev Farisani was a Lutheran minister who fought apartheid from the pulpit and was arrested for his activism in the Black Consciousness movement and the Black People’s Convention, where he was a close associate of Steve Bantu Biko.
After the end of apartheid, Dr Farisani represented the African National Congress in the National Assembly and later served as a Member of the Limpopo Provincial Executive, following which he served as Speaker of the Limpopo legislature.
President Ramaphosa said: “Dr Farisani has left us as part of a succession of stalwarts who have passed on recently and whose dedication to our freedom and national development demands both our mourning and reflection.
TS Farisani preached the gospel of humanity and liberation in ways that energised our struggle and shook the apartheid regime into targeting him and depriving him of his personal freedom.
From the pulpit of his congregations in Venda and the then Transvaal, to the podiums of Parliament and the Speaker’s chair in Limpopo, Dr Farisani’s commanding baritone oratory conveyed his love for humanity and his fearless, sacrificial fight for our freedom.
May his soul rest in peace.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.