Helen Suzman, South African liberal politician and anti-Apartheid activist, was born on this day in 1917. Happy Birthday, Helen Suzman!

**Submission Statement**

During Apartheid, there were White South Africans who opposed the the White Supremacist system. Some were in the ANC and even involved high up in the armed struggle. Others were leaders in civil society – lawyers and journalists and activists. And a few were active in the Whites only political system under various liberal parties. This was Suzman’s role.

For many years, Helen Suzman served as the lone voice against Apartheid in the Whites only parliament. She was the leader of a party called the Progressive Federal Party. She used her influence and position to ask tough questions, which helped international media understand and frame developments in South Africa properly. It was extremely valuable to have such a voice advocating forcefully against Apartheid, because it drove home that this was not about Black vs White – it was not a racial disagreement that somehow spun out of control – it was wrong versus right and oppression versus freedom. She was respected and beloved by the leaders of the ANC and the general freedom struggle.

Suzman also used her position to try to improve the treatment of political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela on Robben Island.

The extract below includes Mandela’s comments on Suzman:

> When as President of South Africa, Mr Mandela bestowed upon Mrs Suzman the Order of Meritorious Service (Gold) in 1997, he commented upon her courage, saying: “It is a courage born of the yearning for freedom; of hatred of oppression, injustice and inequity whether the victim be oneself or another; a fortitude that draws its strength from the conviction that no person can be free while others are unfree.”

> In 1967 Mrs Suzman visited Mr Mandela in prison for the first time. In B-Section on Robben Island, his fellow Rivonia Trialists referred her to Mr Mandela as their spokesperson and he conveyed their grievances about prison conditions. Remembering the visit, Mr Mandela later said: “Mrs Suzman was one of the few, if not the only, member of Parliament who took an interest in the plight of political prisoners.” He added: “It was an odd and wonderful sight to see this courageous woman peering into our cells and strolling around our courtyard. She was the first and only woman ever to grace our cells.”

Source: https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/statement-from-the-foundation-on-the-death-of-helen-suzman

It is important to keep the memory of Helen Suzman alive for several reasons.

First, then, as now, it helps to clarify that the dichotomy of Apartheid was wrong vs right, not Black vs White.

Second, and somewhat regrettably, we must emphasize that the White South African electorate always had the option to end Apartheid early by voting for someone like Suzman. They chose not to. Reddit is full of very subtle Apartheid revisionism. You will even see people try to frame the end of Apartheid as being due to the actions of White people in the referendum. Or that somehow Apartheid couldn’t end because of Communism or something. I don’t buy any of it and I don’t think you should either.

Lastly, Suzman was an exemplary person. She was a woman, a liberal and a person of Jewish heritage working in an environment of chauvinistic, sexist, racist, authoritarian and anti-Semitic Christian Nationalists. But she spoke up for liberal values all the same, and did a good job of it too.

You can read some of Helen Suzman’s quotes online, for example at WikiQuote: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Helen_Suzman

If you are ever looking for a good summary of what the true liberal position is on some South African question, you can’t do better than to go to the Helen Suzman Foundation website: https://hsf.org.za/

> I stand for simple justice, equal opportunity, and human rights. These are the indispensable elements in a democratic society and are well worth fighting for.

— Helen Suzman