Debate is almost non-existent and no one is apparently accountable to anybody apart from their political party bosses. It is bad news for democracy in this country.

She visited Nelson Mandela on numerous occasions while he was in prison and was present when he signed the new constitution in 1996. She studied as an economist and statistician at Witwatersrand University. At age 19 Helen Suzman married Dr Moses Suzman (died 1994) who was considerably older than Helen Suzman was; the couple had two daughters.

Helen Suzman DBE (7 November 1917 – 1 January 2009) was a liberal South African anti-apartheid activist and politician.