Lord Speaker statement on the death of Nelson Mandela
6 December 2013 (updated on 6 December 2013)
The Lord Speaker, Baroness D'Souza, has paid tribute to Nelson Mandela.
The Lord Speaker said: 'I spent a number of years in the late 1980s in South Africa working in the townships and Bantustans. I never had the privilege of meeting Nelson Mandela as throughout my time there he was in prison. However, despite his long detention, his leadership and moral courage was an inspiration to those I was working with and to all those fighting for equality and the sanctity of human rights. As the leader of post-apartheid South Africa, Nelson Mandela was a global statesman who set the standard for principled politics in a country riven by a legacy of injustice. The loss of Nelson Mandela will, of course, bring great sadness to his friends and family and will be keenly felt in South Africa and throughout the world.'