Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to Jesse Jackson at his funeral in Chicago, praising the late civil rights activist for standing in solidarity with South Africans during the struggle against Apartheid.
Ramaphosa told mourners that South Africans would never forget Jackson’s global advocacy and support for the anti-apartheid movement, describing him as a brother in the fight for justice and freedom.
“In the long and painful years of our struggle, when the voices of our people were often silenced, Jesse Jackson chose to belong to us by raising his voice against apartheid on our behalf. When our cause was ignored, and many would look away he stood firm in solidarity with us,” Ramaphosa said.
The people of South Africa are with you today as you lay to rest a great man and celebrate a remarkable life that altered the moral direction of a nation and inspired the conscience of the world.
~ My Tribute at the Homecoming Celebration of Reverend Jesse Jackson pic.twitter.com/4fdZbgXQWN
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) March 7, 2026
“He looked at a people he had never met and said: their pain is my pain. Their chains are my chains. Their struggle for freedom is my struggle. And for this, the people of South Africa remember him not as a distant friend, but as a brother in the struggle for justice and freedom,” he adds.
Although given only two minutes to speak, Ramaphosa said Jackson’s impact stretched from Chicago to Soweto.
He also likened Jackson’s spirit of African pride and solidarity to that expressed by ANC founder Pixley ka Isaka Seme, saying Jackson embodied the same vision of dignity and hope for Africa.
Ramaphosa said that Jackson’s support during South Africa’s darkest days made him part of the country’s struggle for liberation.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
