Sri Lanka mourns death of former South Africa Ambassador Geoff Doidge

Former South Africa Ambassador in Sri Lanka Geoff Doidge has passed away recently and a requiem mass will be held today at 6 p.m. (Sri Lanka Time) at the St. John Fisher Catholic Church, Lynnwood, Pretoria. Live coverage of the funeral service can be viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=kzY3P72ILA8.

Doidge was former Minister of Public Works of the Republic of South Africa and former Ambassador to Thailand and High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Doidge was part of the first generation of Members of Parliament of the democratic South Africa after the historic April 1994 elections.

He was passionate about retributive justice and used his time and influence in society to redress massive human rights abuses through truth-telling mechanisms, reparations, institutional reform, and recognition of the suffering of the victims, memorialization and reconciliation. He played an important active role in the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation (TRC) Act, which birthed the TRC.

He was appointed as High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and Maldives by South Africa President Jacob Zuma in 2011 to promote and assist reconciliation and bring peace to the ethnic conflicts working with the Heads of Government and other organizations who are in similar roles plus different religious groups by sharing their own experiences and lessons learned from the Apartheid from 1948 to 1994.

Within short time period he was well respected among all classes of society. In addition, he was heavily involved in assisting business community to expand their business with South Africa.

Doidge will be remembered as a gentle giant and a voice of the voiceless. He used his skills and influence in society to redress the injustices of the past by ensuring that legislation passed by the first democratic South African Parliament responded to the needs of the people. His memory will forever be etched in our minds, particularly his calm demeanour, passion for peace and justice and always placing the interests of the country above everything else.

Those wishing to express their condolences can email to the current South Africa’s High Commissioner in Sri Lanka at [email protected]