President Cyril Ramaphosa grants Shaleen Surtie-Richards a provincial funeral

Late TV, film and theatre actress Shaleen Surtie-Richards has been granted a Category 2 Special Provincial Funeral by the South African Presidency.

Actress Shaleen Surtie-Richards at the Music Alla Kaap show where Percy Sledge performed at the Grand Arena, Grandwest. Picture: Ian Landsberg

The request was made to the government earlier this week by Surtie-Richards’s family and Western Cape Premier Alan Winde.

Family spokesperson and local musician Alistair Isobell confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa signed off on the application.

The president, by virtue of the application we had submitted to Premier Alan Winde, signed off officially by the president, to grant Shaleen Surtie-Richards a provincial funeral. Now that this has been confirmed we are following the process of putting all that needs to be put in place to execute that permission granted for the Provincial Category 2 funeral on Sunday at 2.30 pm

Adding that fans can watch the funeral on any one of the major TV networks that will be filming and broadcasting live throughout the procession.

According to the policy for state funerals, Category 2 Special Provincial Funerals may be held for “distinguished persons specifically designated by the President of South Africa on request by the Premier of a province”.

The TV icon was found dead on Monday, June 7, at a guest house in Cape Town, where she was filming scenes for kykNet’s “Arendsvlei”.

Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions, attendees will be limited, but Surtie-Richards fans can pay last respects by watching the procession on TV.

President Cyril Ramaphosa paid tribute to the teacher-turned-performer.

We have lost a household performer whose distinctive energy, artistic versatility and humility touched generations of South Africans for more than three-decades. On stage and screen Shaleen Surtie-Richards held a mirror to our unjust past and gave us hope for our future as a nation.

“May her soul rest in peace,” said Ramaphosa.