Did all hope die with Helen Suzman in 2009?

Helen Suzman was an absolute hero who always stood up for right. She passed away in 2009 and was given a hero's farewell. It was a sad day. Not least of all because of the loss of South Africa's most important cannabis activist. No other prominent politician has since taken up the cause or been brave enough to be honest and tell the truth about dagga. Helen was the best. By a long way.

"Helen Suzman exemplified courage and integrity. She visited prisons and campaigned for improved conditions. She was present at scenes of forced removals, and she reported on the living conditions in townships and rural areas. She exposed police torture and opposed separate development.

Throughout her long career she campaigned fearlessly against laws such as the Immorality Act, the Group Areas Act, Forced Removals, the Pass Laws and the Death Penalty. She was the only MP to vote against the Terrorism Bill of 1967. In an era of censorship, she raised critical issues in Parliament, enabling the press to publish information that would not otherwise have been made public." (Source)

In 1967, Suzman visited Nelson Mandela in prison on Robben Island for the first time. Remembering the visit, 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."

When, as President of South Africa, Mandela bestowed on Suzman the Order of Meritorious Service in 1997, he said of her courage: "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 a famous exchange a certain minister shouted: 'You put these questions just to embarrass South Africa overseas.' To which Helen coolly replied: 'It is not my questions that embarrass South Africa – it is your answers.'"

Helen Suzman on the fact that 44% of criminals tested positive for cannabis:

"So what"

I love that. So straight and to the point.

Helen Suzman to Cliff Scott, Sunday Tribune, about the headline “Dagga smoking should not be a crime says angry Suzman” she says “Somewhere or other lurking in the dark precincts of the Sunday Tribune is a Sub. who is determined to present me to the bleary-eyed public of Durban as a dagga-addicted commie!” 

She helped many people in her time: "In '77 got a rediculous 5 year sentence for dealing as I had over 115g, whereas I used to go to Swaziland to get my 6 week supply due to the cheapness and good quality. Served 16 months before Helen Suzman managed to get us all paroled."

"I can give you my comment and opinion on legalizing dagga but the fact of the matter is that I am of the old guard. People don't listen to me, not young white Jewish people and certainly not the black people whose freedom I fought for." (2005)

There is a Helen Suzman Boulevard in Cape Town which is unsurprising since it's Cape Town and the DA are in charge round here.  South Africa hasn't issued a stamp with Mrs Suzman's likeness on it, however Liberia Sierra Leone and  (The story of the stamp)

With Helen Suzman gone there is no one willing to pick up the torch and tell the truth as it is. When Helen Suzman died all hope died.