S-African human rights icon Helen Suzman dies

Helen Suzman, one of the the strongest and bravest women in South African political history, has passed away.

According to her daughter, Suzman died on peacefully in her sleep at her home in Johannesburg. She was 91 years old.

During the dark apartheid years, Suzman was one of the first and only white parliamentarians who took a stance against the racist policies of the National Party. Back in the days this was the political party that put and kept the system of apartheid in place.

It was for instance because of her continous efforts that the prison authorities of Robben Island finaly agreed to allow inmates to receieve books and to enroll in educational courses that they would take in correspondence. 

Nelson Mandela, when incarcerated on Robben Island, was visited by Suzman on a regular basis. She even stood him by when in 1996, he signed the new South African constitution.

After South Africa became a free country in 1994, she continued to fight for the nation;'s democracy through the Helen Suzman Foundation.