Shaleen Surtie-Richards: Veteran actress is laid to rest

Friends and family of the late actress Shaleen Surtie-Richards have bid the star farewell in a moving funeral service, held in Cape Town on Sunday, 13 June 2021.

Surtie-Richards has been laid to rest at Durbanville Memorial Park . She passed away at the age of 66 on Monday, 7 June 2021. She was found dead at a guesthouse in the mother city, where she was shooting scenes for the local Kyknet soap Arendsvlei.

She was afforded a provincial funeral, after Western Cape Premier Alan Winde wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa, in the wake of her death.

Shaleen Surtie-Richard’s friends and family pay tribute

Fellow veteran actor Basil Appollis spoke about his first encounter with Shaleen Surtie-Richards, which was in 1985.

“Early in the rehearsals of this play, I saw this extraordinary talent move the Earth. And it wasn’t a slight shift. It was causing earthquakes every time she just rehearsed. I have never ever experienced anything like it,” Appollis said.

Like many in the arts have, he also touched on her sense of humour and generosity.

“Today we choose to remember you and the abundance that was always present in your life: your giving, your heart of gold, your endless generosity, not only of material things, but your generosity of spirit… most of all your humour”

Fellow veteran actor Basil Appollis

The star’s niece has described her as larger-than-life and also thanked South Africans for their messages of support.

Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthetwa also spoke at the funeral and said the star would be remembered by all South Africans.

The good deeds of Shaleen are not interred with her mortal remains but are with us. We, the title holders of
her deeds, must advance them further for the betterment of society. This is what she would have wanted.

[4/5] pic.twitter.com/yDPZ0V3equ

— Min. Nathi Mthethwa (@NathiMthethwaSA) June 13, 2021

“On this sad occasion, we gathered to mourn the passing of Shaleen Surtie-Richards and to celebrate her life and the contribution she made in our collective effort towards nation building and social cohesion, through drama and film and through her boundless creativity,” Mthetwa said.

“As we gathered at Durbanville Memorial Park today, we shed tears for Shaleen, but we acknowledged the joy she gave us and therefore our tears were those of love and the joy we derived from the practice of her craft and the respect she extended to all of us”

Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthetwa