​President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his sadness at the passing of liberation struggle stalwart Shantavothie “Shanthie” Naidoo Tweedie at the age of 91.

President Ramaphosa offers his deep condolences to Mr Dominic Tweedie, the Naidoo family and friends and comrades of Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie who lived in exile in the United Kingdom from 1972 to 1991.

Born in Pretoria in 1935, Shanthie Naidoo became an activist while at school and became active in the then Transvaal Indian Youth Congress, the Federation of South African Women, the South African Congress of Trade Unions and the African National Congress, in whose service she and Dominic Tweedie worked at the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College in Tanzania.

Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie faced various periods of detention, including solitary confinement, under the Terrorism Act as well as banning orders.

She was imprisoned for two months for refusing to give evidence against Winnie Mandela and 21 comrades who had been charged with furthering the aims of the African National Congress.

The apartheid state refused her exit permits to go into exile, until allowing her to leave the country following a campaign by supporters in South Africa and abroad, in which liberal Member of Parliament Helen Suzman had played a leading role.

President Ramaphosa said: “The passing of Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie causes us to revisit and pay tribute to the extraordinary contribution she made to our struggle for freedom.

“Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie was a hero who followed in the footsteps of her politically active family and sacrificially devoted her extended life to fighting for a free, non-racial South Africa.

“Her passing, on the eve of Women’s Month, draws our attention to the struggles women faced under apartheid and which spurred courageous women to confront a system founded on race and gender discrimination.

“As we mourn Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie’s passing, we also celebrate her legacy and that of the 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings 70 years ago as well as other women, who have made South Africa a better place for women and girls.

“We can only repay Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie by honouring her sacrifice and leadership, and continuing to make South Africa a nation that works for all, and especially women.

“May her soul rest in peace.”