WORLD : S. Africa Apartheid Foe to Retire
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Helen Suzman, the country’s most durable anti-apartheid politician, announced today that she will retire in September after 36 years in Parliament.
Suzman, 71, is the longest-serving member of Parliament, having represented the same Johannesburg constituency since 1953.
From 1961 through 1974, she was the only legislator representing the anti-apartheid opposition and often cast the sole vote against discriminatory or repressive laws.
She announced that she will not seek reelection on Sept. 6, when a general election will be held for the white, Asian and mixed-race chambers of Parliament. She has campaigned consistently to extend political rights to the black majority, which has no representation in Parliament.
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