Jessie Duarte has died

Yasmin ‘Jessie’ Duarte, the ANC’s long-serving Deputy Secretary-General, died early on Sunday morning after a battle with cancer.

Jessie Duarte was born on 19 September in 1953 in Newclare, Johannesburg, one of nine children. She matriculated at Coronationville Secondary School.

Her political career started in 1979 when Albertina Sisulu, the wife of former ANC deputy president Walter Sisulu, recruited her to establish women’s structures throughout the country. 

She served in various organisations including the Federation of Transvaal Women, an affiliate of the United Democratic Front (UDF).

This gave her the opportunity to work with anti-apartheid activist Reverend Beyers Naudé in setting up and administering a scholarship fund to educate and skill ANC and UDF activists. 

Duarte’s activism led to her being detained without trial in 1988. However, she was released and placed under restriction orders until the State of Emergency was lifted.

In 1990, following the ANC’s unbanning, she was elected to the Gauteng Provincial Executive Committee (PEC). Duarte was a personal assistant to both former ANC President Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu until 1994. 

At the start of the democratic era, Duarte was given the position of MEC for Safety and Security in Gauteng. 

She was elected to the ANC National Executive Committee in 1997, which led to her appointment as ambassador to Mozambique two years later.

Thereafter she was appointed as national spokesperson for the ANC. She became Chief Operations Officer for the Presidency until she resigned in April 2010. Duarte became the Deputy Secretary-General of the ANC at the 53rd National Conference in Mangaung in December 2012.

Duarte was often seen as a controversial figure by the public and the press. 

Duarte, who had been on sick leave since 2021, was buried on Sunday afternoon according to Muslim rites.