Ilse Naude, the wife of Afrikaner theologian and anti-apartheid activist Beyers Naude, has died after a heart attack, Die Burger newspaper reported on Saturday.<\/p>\n
She was 98.<\/p>\n
Johan Naude, the oldest son of the couple, said were it not for his mother’s strength his father would never have achieved what he did in the fight against apartheid.<\/p>\n
Mrs Naude underwent a hip operation two weeks ago. She had complained of fatigue ever since.<\/p>\n
She died on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe slept a lot in the last while and she said she was very tired,\u201d her daughter Rita said.<\/p>\n
The couple were married for 64 years when Naude died at the age of 89 in 2004.<\/p>\n
On her 95th birthday Naude said she missed her husband and \u201cwanted to go home\u201d to join him.<\/p>\n
The two met at the Stellenbosch University where he studied theology and mathematics.<\/p>\n
At his 80th birthday party former president Nelson Mandela praised the couple.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis strength is of body and spirit and is the sort of power and indomitable spirit that beat the evil of apartheid and made him a hero of our people,\u201d Mandela said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone asks me what a new South African should be, I will say ‘Look at Beyers and his wife, Ilse’.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his autobiography, \u201cMy Land of Hope\u201d, Naude credited his wife for planting the seed of non-racialism in him.<\/p>\n
Ilse Naude grew up on the Moravian mission in Genadendal near Caledon.<\/p>\n
She became used to living with coloured people who worked at the church at a time when South Africans of different races were kept separate.<\/p>\n
In his autobiography Naude admits that for chauvinistic reasons he did not keep his wife informed about his growing estrangement from the apartheid regime.<\/p>\n
The couple had two serious disagreements in their time together.<\/p>\n
The first was when he said he wanted to leave the country and she said she would not follow him.<\/p>\n
The second was when he left the Dutch Reformed Church and she remained a member.<\/p>\n
Naude leaves four children, four grand children and three great grandchildren. – Sapa<\/p>\n<\/p>\n