Cape Forum calls for official funeral for “unifying” former ambassador Dr Franklin Sonn

Civil society organisation Cape Forum has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, to request that former ambassador to the US, Dr Franklin Sonn, be honoured with an official funeral.

Dr Sonn, who passed away on Saturday aged 86, has been applauded by President Ramaphosa as a Member of the National Order of the Baobab “who distinguished himself in leadership roles in education, politics, and business”. Ramaphosa said Dr Sonn was “an anti-apartheid campaigner and pioneering champion of broad-based economic empowerment” and “an advocate and activist for the accelerated transformation of our country after the end of apartheid and the upliftment of historically marginalised communities”.

In his tribute, Premier Winde called Dr Sonn a “great South African giant”, who rose from growing up as a son of the Karoo to become the country’s first democratic ambassador to Washington. According to Winde, the contributions of Dr Sonn to education, justice, and nation-building “will continue to shape South Africa for generations”.

Cape Forum Executive Chairperson Heindrich Wyngaard says, in addition to the tributes by the President and the Premier, the organisation would like to also acknowledge Dr Sonn’s role in bringing diverse communities together in dialogue to create mutual recognition of and respect for their histories and cultures. “This role is, to us as a community organisation, most important given the divisions that characterise our society at this period of our history. We need peace brokers like Dr Sonn to help us steer through this storm,” says Wyngaard.