In the post-1994 period, Passtoors worked as journalist, edited two political journals and wrote three books. She later applied for amnesty to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the role she played in the bombings. Hèlène sacrificed her life and her children for the struggle for freedom in South Africa, and endured enormous suffering for the people of this country. She epitomised true international solidarity to the oppressed masses of South Africa and it is for this reason that she occupies a distinct and special role in the historical memory of this country. On 27 April 2011, the State President, Jacob G Zuma honoured Hélène Passtoors with the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo for her contribution to the underground work of MK and her spirit of internationalism and friendship she showed for the people of South Africa.6
Helene Passtoors: The white Belgian of MK Opinion / 14 July 2017, 09:03AM / Shannon Ebrahim The SACP bestowed a special recognition award at its congress last week on Helene Passtoors for her role in the Struggle. To her torturer, Nic Deetlefs, she was an evil communist and terrorist, but to South Africans who fought against apartheid, she was a hero of the Struggle. Please meet Helene Passtoors. This week the SACP bestowed a special recognition award at its national congress on her. And as the ageing veteran took to the stage, the sea of red-clad comrades broke into cheers and gave Passtoors a standing ovation. The honour comes six years after she was bestowed the national Order of the Companions of OR Tambo for her role in the Struggle. As she boarded a plane back to Belgium on Tuesday night, her eyes filled with tears to again leave the country she was willing to give her life for. Passtoors was an immensely brave woman and sacrificed so much for a cause that became her own. What makes her story unusual is the fact that she is a white Belgian who became deeply embedded in South Africa’s liberation Struggle, performing the most highly secretive special operations in the 1980s, under the direct command of Joe Slovo, and Oliver Tambo, the commander of ANC special operations. For a foreigner to have been entrusted with such sensitive and secret work was a testament to her trustworthiness and the high regard the ANC leadership had for her. Her race and profile provided a convenient cover for the work she did, which involved reconnaissance of strategic coal export/import lines, and oil imported covertly by the apartheid state.
6
This is a description of her by SA History on Line: http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/helene-marie-passtoors , accessed 10 May 2017.)
263 Nongqai Vol 12 No 12B : SAP-SB / ANC-MK
