Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo (known to many as Khwezi) has left a legacy behind for young female activists to continue, says the Daily Maverick's Marianne Thamm.
Thamm says the silent anti-rape protest held in August, during President Jacob Zuma’s IEC address, is evidence of this.
Kuzwayo accused Zuma of rape in 2005 and was forced to conceal her identity to avoid a witch hunt by his supporters.
After Zuma was acquitted of the charges, Kuzwayo had to flee into exile after threats to her and her family's life.
Thamm says that tragically, Kuzwayo (on so many different levels) never got to be free in a supposedly free South Africa.
What is still sad is that she couldn't be identified for who she is and but was known as Khwezi, Zuma's rape accuser.
— Marianne Thamm, Associate Editor at the Daily Maverick
Former Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils told Thamm that he is saddened by the passing of Kuzwayo, adding that she died just as she was getting her life back together.
Kasrils says she was about to make a valuable contribution to the country before her passing.
Thamm has encouraged South Africans to find the other sides to Kuzwayo which portray her as a more complete human being.
I'd like to know more about her as a person, not entirely hooked on to this one particular label.
— Marianne Thamm, Associate Editor at the Daily Maverick
Thamm says Kuzwayo has been referred to as an ancestor, which is indicative of how her story will not yet go away.
Listen to the full conversation from The John Maytham Show: