Former president of South Africa’s Black Sash, a leading anti-apartheid movement, dies

South African anti-apartheid campaigner dies

JOHANNESBURG — The former head of a leading South African anti-apartheid movement has died.

The Black Sash, which Sheena Duncan twice served as president, said in a statement she died Tuesday in her Johannesburg home after a long illness. She was 77.

Duncan’s mother, June Sinclair, was a founding member of the group led by white women to peacefully protest apartheid. Today the organization campaigns for human rights and development.

Former President Nelson Mandela’s foundation on Wednesday praised Duncan for keeping “the public aware of the atrocities of racist policies through their famous silent protests.”

The Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s main opposition party, says she “dedicated her time to the development of a democratic and just South Africa.”