ANC stalwart Ben Turok hailed for fight against social and economic injustice
Anti-apartheid activist Ben Turok has been hailed as someone who dedicated his life to fighting economic and social injustice.
Turok died on Monday morning at his home in Cape Town after a long illness.
Turok, who was also a former African National Congress (ANC) MP, recently served as director of the Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA) and editor of the journal New Agenda.
Senior researcher at IFAA Carilee Osborne says Turok's legacy speaks for itself.
"He felt very strongly about the way in which the legacies of apartheid and colonialism had not been undone in the post-apartheid era and he had dedicated all of his life.
"He was 92 and he hadn't stopped working and he hadn't stopped working because he felt so strongly about continuing to fight the struggle he had always fought," says Osborne.
The South African Communist Party's (SACP) general secretary Blade Nzimande also sent condolences to the family of the economics professor and former MP.
Speaking ahead of the SACP's national congress in Kempton Park, Nzimande hailed Turok for his dedication to the anti-apartheid movement.
"We shall sorely miss him because he was amongst those stalwarts who committed his entire life to the movement in the service of the movement.
"He was an intellectual as well, he liked writing. Old as he was, he was editing a publication. We hope the publication will continue to make a contribution," added Nzimade.
In a statement, the ANC thanked Turok for his unwavering commitment to freedom.
"Together with his wife, Mary Turok, and other comrades of his generation, Comrade Ben Turok rejected the privilege and comforts of the apartheid system that could have accrued to him on the basis of his skin colour.
"Throughout this life, Comrade Turok was unwavering, vocal and unambiguous in his commitment to the freedom of the people of South Africa. He used his literary works, from editing the ANC’s Sechaba magazine, the more than 19 books he authored to his journal, the New Agenda, to drive and propagate the progressive policies for social and economic justice," the statement reads.
Speaking to Jacaranda FM News, Turok's wife of 65 years, Mary, confirmed he would be cremated in a private ceremony.
Anti-apartheid activist Ben Turok dies
Turok, also a long-serving former African National Congress MP, recently served as director of the Institute for African Alternatives and editor of the journal New Agenda. He was one of the party delegates tasked with drawing up and presenting the Freedom Charter in 1955, and also served three years in prison for his activism during apartheid in the 1960s.