Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa
I am deeply saddened by the passing of former United States President Jimmy Carter who we remember as an outstanding, compassionate leader and champion of human rights and peace globally.
Jimmy Carter was an outspoken critic of the apartheid state at a time when the regime was trying to ingratiate itself with influential economies around the world and justify its inhumane policies.
Among his many distinguished roles, President Carter holds a special place in our history as a member of The Elders, a collective of global leaders brought together on President Nelson Mandela’s 89th birthday in 2007 to be independent moral voices for peace and leadership.
President Carter’s record includes his engagement in diverse peace negotiations around the world and his unequivocal categorisation of the denial of fundamental human rights and statehood to the people of Palestine as a manifestation of apartheid.
He justly deserved the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for “his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development”.
We celebrate his legacy, his extended lifetime and his enduring ideas.
May his soul rest in peace.