The South African Council of Churches (SACC) mourns the loss of another stalwart of the struggle for South Africa's liberation, Rachel Alexander Simons, better known as Ray Alexander.

When asked to describe the nature of the person who had been honoured with a Memorial by the City of Cape Town, Dr. Tsele, General Secretary of the SACC, replied that Comrade Ray was "a champion for the cause of the worker and the poor as well as a pioneer in the earliest struggle for women's rights in South Africa." Alexander Simons had in her earliest years emigrated to South Africa from Latvia. She had then, already, identified her role in life amongst the poor and especially the indigenous and underprivileged communities rather than one within colonial society and Western government. As an untiring organiser on behalf of the workers, she had shown tremendous leadership ability in the Western Cape and in South Africa. She was aware of the racial divisions fostered between black African and "coloured" workers and was in large part the driving force behind the establishment of the Food and Canning Workers' Union. A further characteristic of such leadership was her ability to engineer, together with her partner, Jack Simons, the transformation of a group of workers from then South West Africa into the leadership of the current ruling South West African Peoples' Organisation (SWAPO).

Her early acceptance of the need to defend the rights of poor, African workers and especially those of women led to African voters, when they had the franchise, appointing her as their "Representative" to Parliament. It was only after the promulgation of the Suppression of Communism Act in 1950 that that had the effect of totally barring her from Parliament that she later left South Africa for Zambia.

Would her work be viewed as being at odds with the Churches' teachings because of her involvement with the Communist Party? "Not so," replied Dr. Tsele. "Faith communities need to accept that there are many positions of faith". Referring to an understanding that Ray Alexander was guided also by faith, the SACC General Secretary explained that Christians, as people of established orders of faith, do not have exclusive access to or monopoly of understanding the dictates of God as a Supreme Being to whom we claim allegiance "In this way, someone like Ray who operated within the structure of the SACP was a person guided by a vision that we as human beings are able to participate in the empowerment of every area of our and human need for liberation - be it political, social or economic." "Such leadership, as indeed the life of Ray Alexander was in the end, is a lesson in faith for those of us living and working in established faith communities and organisations." concluded Dr. Tsele.

The SACC mourns the loss of Ray Alexander and expresses its condolences to her family, relatives and friends but also celebrates the gift of a life that was dedicated to and blessed with the legacies of freedom, democracy and people's empowerment in South Africa.

For further information contact The Rev. Keith Vermeulen, Director, SACC Parliamentary Office, Cape Town, 021 423 4261 or 072 482 5524