Hansard: NCOP: Plenary; Debate on Mandela Day: Paying Tribute to a Fearless Warrior and Champion of our Democracy
House: National Council of Provinces
Date of Meeting: 01 Aug 2013
Summary
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Minutes
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
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START OF DAY
THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST 2013
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
__________________
The Council met at 14:01.
The House Chairperson: Committees and Oversight took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
Draft Resolution
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 373
Start of the Day
PROVISION OF A PLATFORM FOR CONSIDERATION OF ISSUES AFFECTING PROVINCES
(Draft Resolution)
Mr M P JACOBS: Chairperson, on behalf of the Chief Whip of the Council, I move:
That, in terms of Rule 21(2) and, in the interest of enhancing public participation, conducting oversight and providing a platform for consideration of issues affecting provinces as provided for in section 42(4) and 72(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 –
(1) the Council resolves to, from 28 October to 1 November 2013, conduct public hearings, hold meetings, conduct oversight visits and sit in plenary in the province of Gauteng on 1 November 2013, at 09:00, until conclusion of business on that day; and
(2) the Council notes that the estimated cost of effecting the change in venue and maintaining it for the specified period will be approximately RIO million.
Question put: That the motion be agreed to.
In favour: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape.
Motion accordingly agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
Mr M P JACOBS
UNREVISED HANSARD
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Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 373
Mr M P JACOBS
Multiparty delegation to SADC Parliamentary Forum
(Draft Resolution)
Mr M P JACOBS: Chairperson, on behalf of the Chief Whip of the Council, I move:
That the House -
(1) notes that municipality delegation comprising the presiding officers and four members of Parliament, including the Chairperson of the Multiparty Women's Caucus, was designated by the National Assembly and National Council Of Provinces at the start of the 4th Parliament to represent the institution at the SADC Parliamentary Forum;
(2) further notes that section 6(3) of the SADC Parliamentary Forum constitution was amended at the 30th SADC Parliamentary Forum Plenary, from 7 to 11 November 2011, at Victoria Falls to allow for country delegations to consist of the presiding officers and five Members of Parliament, including the Chairperson of the Multiparty Women's Caucus; and
(3) subject to the concurrence of the National Assembly, designates Mr L S Ngonyama of the Congress of the People as the fifth member of the Parliament of South Africa's delegation to the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
Question put: That the motion be agreed to.
In favour: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape.
Motion accordingly agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
Oration of former Chief Justice Pius Nkonzo Langa - L P M NZIMANDE
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 374
MR M P JACOBS
ORATION OF CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING ON OF FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE PIUS NKONZO LANGA
The Council observed a moment of silence in honour of the late Chief Justice Pius Nkonzo Langa.
Mr L P M NZIMANDE: House Chair, hon members, special delegates and fellow South Africans, I rise with utmost humility and a great sense of grief and sorrow to pay homage to the fallen son of our nation. Indeed, the untimely passing on of former Chief Justice Pius Nkonza Langa is not only a loss to the Langa family, but is a grief shared by all our people, the entire judiciary and the legal fraternity.
Former Chief Justice Langa was a humble and diligent son of our nation whose positive and patriotic spirit truly resembled and remained a great inspiration to our nation.
Former Chief Justice Langa's entry into the judicial world was first witnessed as a court messenger and then an interpreter in the Department of Justice. He saw magistrates failing to give the accused a fair hearing and witnessed clear miscarriages of justice.
He realised that he had to qualify as a lawyer so as to be equipped to fight for those who could not defend themselves. This realisation, together with his own early exposure to poverty, racism and oppression, made him determined to achieve this goal, hence the many years of hard work studying in the field of law.
From being an interpreter he rose to become a prosecutor, a magistrate and an advocate of the Natal Supreme Court in 1977. He used his position as an advocate to act for the oppressed and the voiceless. This inevitably meant a heavy involvement in political trials. His clients included, amongst others, civic bodies, trade unions and individuals facing politically motivated charges.
Former Chief Justice Langa became a founder member of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers serving as its president from 1988 to 1994. He was also a founder member of the Release Mandela Committee and deeply involved in the structures of the United Democratic Front, UDF.
With this legal and political experience, it was not surprising when, in the early 1990s, he was drawn into the negotiation process prior to South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, serving as a member of the ANC's constitutional committee and helping to draft the party's proposals for the new Constitution.
Former Chief Justice Langa served the nation with great distinction
not only as a senior counsel, president of Nadel and Justice of the Constitutional Court, but also in his capacity as Deputy Chief Justice and later as Chief Justice of the Republic. He was amongst the first judges to be appointed to the Constitutional Court in 1994.
He made an indelible contribution to the development of South Africa's jurisprudence. It was this contribution and involvement in the struggle for justice that saw him receiving numerous awards from the academic sector and government. Among the illustrious list of accolades was the Order of the Supreme Counsellor of the Baobab in Gold, bestowed upon him by the former President Thabo Mbeki on 22 April 2008. In the same year, Rhodes University conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa. On 14 October 2011, the North West University bestowed on him a Doctor of Philosophy, honoris causa, for his distinguished contribution to the drafting of the Constitution - the development of this country's human rights jurisprudence; as a member of the Constitutional Court for over 15 years; and his sterling work in the service of humanity.
Former Chief Justice Langa resembled every word of Edward Abbey's description of a true patriot when he says, and I quote:
A patriot is a person whose sole purpose is to inspire and is always ready to defend his country.
That was Justice Pius Langa.
In conclusion, I would also like to take this opportunity to send our condolences to the families of the hon MEC Nkosiphendule Kolisile and bodyguards who died with him in an accident on the road to the Eastern Cape. To the people of Gauteng, the government and the people of the Eastern Cape we say, you have lost a hero who worked tirelessly to develop Gauteng and the people of South Africa at large. We say to all of them and all the others who have fallen, you have made contribution to this country, we salute you. We are committed as the ANC to continue doing what you have shown us on the way forward. [Applause.]
Mr V M MANZINI
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NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 374
Mr L P M NZIMANDE
Mr V M MANZINI: Hon Chair, on behalf of the DA I convey a message of condolences on the passing away of former Chief Justice Pius Langa.
Pius Nkonzo Langa was born on 25 March 2013 in Bushbuckridge and passed away on 24 July 2013 aged 74, following a long illness.
He served the Department of Justice for 17 years before becoming an advocate of the Supreme Court of South Africa in 1977. He was appointed to the Bench by former President Nelson Mandela in 1994. He was among the first group of judges selected for the Constitutional Court, established in 1994 under the country's first democratic Constitution. He became Chief Justice in 2005 during the Mbeki administration.
Langa received the Order of the Baobab from Mbeki in 2008 for his service in law, constitutional jurisprudence and human rights. He retired in 2009 and went on to chair the Press Freedom Commission, which looked into the regulations of the print media in South Africa.
Langa's passing left a universal sense of loss in the legal profession. Langa had all the qualities of a Chief Justice especially in upholding the dignity of the office. He was considered to be a wise and fair lawyer and sought to make peace, not to sow division.
South Africa has lost one of its best legal minds, a dedicated human rights jurist and a veteran struggle activist. I quote from what he said on one of the good days:
This is a magnificent goal for a Constitution: to heal the wounds of the past and guide us to a better future. For me, this is the core idea of transformative constitutionalism: that we must change.
Xitsonga:
Nkulukumba Langa, wena loyi a humaka evuxeni laha tiko hinkwaro ri vonaka ku xa ka dyambu hikokwalaho ka wena. Hi ri namuntlha papa ra ntima ri wele Afrika-Dzonga, Afrika-Dzonga wo saseka. Hi ri hinkwerhu timbilu ta hina ti le ku rileni.
Loko hi tsundzuka vumunhu bya wena byo ka byi nga hlawuli hi ku ya hi mbala, hi kota ku twisisa leswaku a wu ri munhu wa vanhu. Kunene Afrika-Dzonga a yi nyikiwile. Hi khensa ndyangu wa ka Langa loko wu hi nyikile jaha, nhenha exikarhi ka tinhenha yo fana na wena. Moya wa yena lowu fambeke a wu wise hi ku rhula.
Mr K A SINCLAIR
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 374
Mr V M MANZINI
Mr K A SINCLAIR: Hon Chairperson, the death of the previous Chief Justice Pius Langa has taken away perhaps one of the greatest sons of South Africa – a man who overcame a system designed specifically to stop him. He stood on the summit of that system, transformed it and made it a better system for everyone and one which transformed our country into a different one.
He did not suddenly find himself a judge or a Chief Justice. For someone who grew up in the time and place where Langa grew up, it is quite astonishing to have been that far-thinking and dedicated. How does a black man born in Bushbuckridge in the 1930s manage to become an advocate? How did someone who was forced to leave school at 14 years become a magistrate?
Bear in mind that he first had to pass Matric through what was then termed "private study". It is a testament to his unbeatable human spirit that he was even able to become a court interpreter, never mind to progress further from there.
Langa had a passionate belief in institutions – to make democracy work and to deepen democracy. If organisations like the independent regulators, the Chapter 9 institutions and, crucially, the National Prosecuting Authority are not properly independent, then the entire state loses its ability to rule properly.
Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke says Langa always used to whisper to him and say, "Remember, Moseneke, we must do the right thing." As Moseneke puts it, despite being self-effacing and modest, he was almost utterly fearless.
In conclusion, the people who know him well will testify to his humility, his passion for others and his leadership. On behalf of Cope, we want to say long live the spirit of one of the greatest sons of our soil.
Debate concluded.
The Council observed a moment of silence in honour of the late Chief Justice Pius Nkonzo Langa.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON: COMMITTEES AND OVERSIGHT (Mr R J Tau): Hon members, I wish to acknowledge the presence in the gallery of the delegation of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers. You are heartily welcome. [Applause.]
DEPUTY MINISTER FOR INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 375
ORATION OF CONDOLENCE
DEBATE ON MANDELA DAY: PAYING TRIBUTE TO A FEARLESS WARRIOR AND CHAMPION OF OUR DEMOCRACY
(Subject for Discussion)
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION (Mr M L Fransman): Chairperson of the NCOP, the hon Mahlangu, hon Members of the NCOP, hon guests, ladies and gentlemen and the Empowered Committee of the State Finance Ministers from India – you are especially welcomed – it gives me great pleasure to deliver this address in this Nelson Mandela Day debate, paying tribute to a fearless warrior for social justice and a champion of our people.
At the outset, allow me to thank the NCOP for inviting us, as a department, to lead this discussion and to thank all and sundry for participating in paying tribute to uTata Madiba, who, for decades, has stridden, like a colossus, the landscape of our struggle for justice, freedom and peace.
His name has become globally synonymous with our struggle and our victory. He has become known as the champion of national reconciliation and, perhaps, South Africa's greatest icon. In comprehending his greatness and stature, we are reminded that he walked in the footsteps of giants: Pixley ka Isaka Seme, Chief Albert Luthuli, O R Tambo, and others like him; past presidents of Africa's oldest liberation movement, the ANC.
Reflecting on a discussion at the Global Convention on Peace and Nonviolence in New Delhi in 2004, Nelson Mandela said:
Peace is not just the absence of conflict; peace is the creation of an environment where all can flourish, regardless of race, colour, creed, religion, gender, class, caste, or any other social markers of difference. Religion, ethnicity, language, social and cultural practice are elements which enrich human civilisation, adding to the wealth of our diversity. Why, therefore, should they be allowed to become a cause of division and violence? We demean our common humanity by allowing that to happen.
It is because of these selfless contributions to humanity that 18 July has been declared Nelson Mandela International Day by the United Nations. Over the past four years, 18 July has become a very momentous day for South Africans, Africans and the rest of the world.
Next year, we will be commemorating 20 years of democracy. In doing so, we pay tribute to Madiba, the entire leadership of our struggle, and the ordinary men and women who have sacrificed life and limb from the dawn of colonialism and during the dark cloud of apartheid that hung over this nation for decades.
I recently paid tribute to uTata Madiba at a colloquium marking a year-long process of engaging and reflecting on some of the assumptions that underpin our historical context and define our current experiences.
In postapartheid South Africa, diversity, cohesion and integration are big words and hold even greater implications. At this critical juncture in the life of our nascent democracy, and as a tribute to Madiba as a fearless warrior for social justice and a champion of our people – especially the working class and rural poor that gave birth to him – it is therefore fitting to create occasion for reflection and space for engagement, and at times, to also speak about the challenges that still face us.
The Mandela Revolution was born out of détente – the product of cessation of the armed struggle and tough negotiations that gave birth to national reconciliation and an acceptance that we are united in our diversity; that the birth of a new nation could only hold in an environment in which cohesion is fostered; and that a new social fabric can only emerge when we succeed in weaving two disparate and polarised worlds into one.
It therefore goes without saying that despite the numerous sterling achievements that we have made over the last 19 years, we have not fully traversed the path embracing our diversity. Cohesion is under threat from growing economic polarisation and manifest social decay, reflected in violent crime, drugs and the killing of the vulnerable and innocent, including police officers on duty defending our hard-earned democracy.
We meet here at the NCOP surrounded by history and places that remind us of the painful journey we had to walk under uTata Madiba, as well as other generations of leaders before him. Adjacent to our parliamentary precinct, we have the Slave Lodge, and diagonally opposite it, Church Square, where our forefathers were once chained to trees, inspected like animals and sold to the highest bidder.
Barely 500 m from here once stood the Cape colonial gallows, called Justice Square, or "Justitie Plaats" in Dutch. It was located opposite the Castle and at the convergence of Buitenkant and Keizersgracht, now Darling, Streets.
It was there, very close to this place, in 1759, that Griet, the Khoi slave woman, was hanged and later beheaded, and her head put on a stake for public display.
It was there, less than 500 m away, in 1767, that the Chinese man, Tsoa Toko, was convicted, sentenced to death and marched to the gallows; and it was there that the first European person to be executed since the arrival of Van Riebeeck, Hans Kettner, was put to death by firing squad for his role in murdering a Khoikhoi servant, Arnoldus, who had been tortured and beaten to death.
I raise these examples cognisant of the fact that it is but a small snippet of the gross, traumatic and tormented legacy of colonial oppression that lies buried beneath the edifice of the national democratic society in which we are trying to promote peace, cohesion and integration.
I am of the view that we are underestimating the deep-seated scars that this painful, traumatic and repressive past had on the psyche of our people for over 360 years under colonialism and apartheid.
If we think that the daily headlines of Die Son, Daily Voice, and other tabloids, are bad because they are replete with stories of violent crime, murder, rape, racism and scandal, this is what Russel Viljoen says in a 2011 Unisa study of the 18th century Cape Colony:
During the 18th century, the Cape Colony developed into a violent society in every sense of the word. The type of crimes committed by perpetrators, the sentences imposed by the colonial authorities and the Court of Justice were equally violent.
So this debate takes place in the context of reflecting on our past, understanding that the legacy of Nelson Mandela has to speak to cohesion, integration and justice. In addition, then, the question around the empowerment of our people comes to light.
Sarah Nuttall and Carli Coetzee in their study, Negotiating the Past: The Making of Memory in South Africa, elaborate on this colonial practice of using human beings as the pedagogical format for instruction in servility and compliance.
This facilitated a culture of ownership in which the value of lives was merely in relation to their value as property. This recounts how the use of torture as spectacle rendered the slave body invisible and established the memory of terror within the slave community.
Now, if one reflects on our period just after 1994, we have done an extensive amount of work with regard to infrastructure development, etc, but the challenge over the next 20 years really is the psychological impact of apartheid on our people. Think about society and think about all the bad things that happened; and, post-1994, the trauma of our people in our society and how we manage through all of this. These are some of the challenges that we will be confronted with.
Perhaps you will also recall that it was on 1 February 1990, that a free Nelson Mandela stood on the balcony of the City Hall just down the road, and reminded us, and I quote:
The destruction caused by apartheid on our subcontinent is incalculable. The fabric of family life of millions of my people has been shattered. Millions are homeless and unemployed. Our economy lies in ruins and our people are embroiled in political strife.
That is therefore the mandate that, even post-1990, Nelson Mandela stood for. Therefore, it is important not to redefine that particular legacy.
It was to this end that the 53rd national conference of the ANC resolved that-
In order to realise the strategic goals of the national democratic revolution, the ANC, must therefore continue to mobilise all the motive forces in society behind the vision of building a national democratic society, continue to promote an active citizenry and social inclusion.
Conference Resolution 2.1.1 says on social cohesion and nation-building states, and I quote:
2.1.1. Noting that:
2.1.1.1. Our past was based on racial and ethnic divisions devised to systematically exclude the majority of South Africans from full and unhindered participation ... and left deep and persistent social, cultural and economic divisions and inequalities in our society ...
Germans use the word, "Sehnsucht", to express their longing for something which is not present. Robert Ross, author of Cape of Torments: Slavery and Resistance in South Africa, says, and I quote:
That it is often stated that apartheid pre-existed in the colonial period even before 1948 ...
Therefore, it is perhaps time for us to ask difficult questions in terms of these issues.
Have we really and honestly realised the Mandela vision and legacy of social justice, nation-building, social, cultural, class, religious and racial inclusivity, when many whites today, almost 20 years into our democracy, still harbour the same fears, selfishness and racism that perpetuates a doctrine rooted in the perpetuation of their privilege?
Have we really realised the vision of social justice, nation-building, national reconciliation and social cohesion when many coloured communities, Africans and Indians still live with the same insecurities created by the psychological impact of colonial apartheid?
Have we really and honestly progressed since the dawn of our democracy in addressing the psychological scars and devastation wreaked by three centuries of that type of rule, namely addressing white fears, coloured insecurities and African marginalisation, anxieties and aspirations in a sensitive and sensible manner?
That is the challenge in front of us after we have built up the bricks and mortar. Equally important therefore is the challenge that lies in policy implementation and how we see each other on a day-to-day basis.
Has this opportunity been seized by the primary beneficiaries of colonial rule and apartheid's far-reaching policies and programmes? More importantly, what progress, if any, has been made to deconstruct those patterns of skewed development planning, resource allocation and prioritisation?
So, as we speak about justice and the legacy of Madiba, the hard questions around development planning, skewed development and resource allocation are critical.
What have white capital and the captains of industry done to empower the dispossessed black majority? How have they implemented laws and policies of redress? Have they not perpetuated the scars left by apartheid and social disintegration in the manner in which they have implemented these laws of policy and redress, such as affirmative action?
Have farmers supported the process of nation-building, national reconciliation and social, racial, and cultural inclusion in the manner and ways that they have been responding to the living conditions of farm workers for the past 19 years?
How have we responded to the cultural sensitivities and diversities of this country? Are we attempting to maintain the same Eurocentric patterns of the past, or have we been sensitive in our planning and policies in this regard? Have we therefore been sensitive in the deconstruction of an engineered process? What have we done to affirm the culture and heritage of our people, especially the Khoi and the San?
A few weeks ago, we were all appalled by the brutal treatment meted out in the city of Cape Town to a blind busker just trying to support himself and his family. I was relieved to see that sense has prevailed and that the City has repealed its busking law.
Unfortunately, this type of behaviour predominates in a place that serves the interests of some. Such insensitivity also manifests in other areas and are sad remnants of our colonial past that only takes into account Eurocentric culture and heritage – where laws are created to deal with buskers and beggars and barking dogs, as well as curbing the Minstrels in the city.
As we engage in this debate and pay tribute to our champion, Madiba, we are cognisant of the fact that in seeking to bring together people that stood on opposite sides of the ideological, political and military clashes of the past, the dialogue may not be easy.
Antjie Krog reminded us recently when she spoke at the Franschhoek Festival that we may not even have a common language and vocabulary with which to speak our thoughts, express ourselves and communicate with each other.
On the eve of our celebration of 20 years of democracy, we must ask how we shall pay tribute to the Mandela legacy, when it is an open secret that our main challenges are poverty, unemployment and inequality. Despite the wide-ranging improvements that have been made, this is still the daily reality of life for many people in the remote rural areas, underdeveloped townships and settlements, and impoverished urban and peri-urban suburbs.
Moreover, these triple challenges affect mainly coloured, African and Indian communities, as well as the very large African diaspora community. Through the scarcity of resources, it further perpetuates division, conflict, mistrust and social exclusion amongst and between communities. So it is important to ask ourselves how we treat fellow Africans and the diaspora people, who, in a sense find refuge within our own communities.
It is also clear that despite political democracy, we are still a society in which race determines many a thing: opportunities, security, wealth, welfare, health, etc. Racial indicators show that the majority of those who face the triple challenge are black, coloured, women and youth. This is a challenge that requires serious reflection and decisive action.
As we reflect on the prospects for democracy, diversity, cohesion and integration, we realise that we will have to undertake that journey without the towering figure of Nelson Mandela and his wonderful example of how we can unite behind a vision of working together to build a better life for all. We shall draw on the strength of this example and be a living memory of what we can be and what we can achieve if we transcend all boundaries of race, religion, language, culture and class, and follow in his footsteps as global symbols of unity, justice, resilience and reconciliation.
We must recognise that we all feel excluded in some way – some on racial grounds, some on gender grounds, some on age, religion or culture, and some just because of being disabled. Our rallying call is drawn from our national coat of arms – "!ke e: /xarra //ke" – and written in the Khoisan language of the |Xam people. It translates as "diverse people unite".
Through this call, this platform will ensure hope of true unity for many generations of people from diverse cultural traditions and identity groups.
Perhaps, then, we can truly appreciate the idealism of uTata Madiba when he said on the Grand Parade, and I quote:
I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.
Therefore, the challenge is to reflect on the legacy of Mandela, in the context of our current trajectory, in the context of our current challenges, bearing in mind, however, that we need to deal with the sensitivities of the mind – and that needs to push us forward. Thank you. [Applause.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP
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Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 381
Mr M L FRANSMAN
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: House Chairperson Tau, hon Deputy Minister Fransman, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, let me take this opportunity to bid farewell to a humble man of the law, the late former Chief Justice Pius Langa.
Judge Langa personified humility and wisdom. May his soul rest in peace!
This debate today takes place on the day on which, according to history, in the year 30 BC, Octavian, later known as Augustus, entered Alexandria in Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic. This was the start of the tribulations and oppression that the African people would endure under their colonial masters.
It would take warriors such as Kwame Nkrumah and Nelson Mandela, to mention just a few, to ensure that Africa is free. That is why today we are paying tribute to a fearless warrior and champion of our democracy, Nelson Mandela.
IsiXhosa:
Inamb' enkulu ecand' iziziba
Iqadi likaJongintaba
Unyana kaNosekeni
English:
When we speak of Nelson Mandela, we run out of words to describe him. One can call him a revolutionary; a rationalist; a strong leader; a visionary; a patriot; a selfless leader; a reconciler; and a man of courage. The descriptions are endless and you may continue to name them.
As a revolutionary, Nelson Mandela knew that to change South Africa from an oppressive apartheid state to a free and democratic state, he had to do something. As Kwame Nkrumah said, and I quote: "
Revolutions are brought about by men who think as men of action and act as men of thought.
[Applause.]
When he came out of prison, those who had incarcerated him and their supporters were anxious and nervous about what would happen when a black leader took over. They feared revenge by the previously oppressed majority.
Revenge is a natural human reaction to being mistreated, but often it tends to be irrational. But Mandela, being a rationalist, simply realised that exacting revenge was not rational. He chose forgiveness and invited everybody to be part of the rainbow nation.
Again, as Mahatma Gandhi said, and I quote:
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
That strong man who went and freed South Africa was there and fought for 27 years in jail together with others. He became very strong and he stood up and said, "I forgive you, let us move forward."
As a visionary he saw a united, nonsexist South Africa becoming a reality in our lifetime. As a patriot he realised that anger and resentment would not take this nation forward. So he was prepared to let go of the past and focus on the future of South Africa.
Are we doing that – all of us – or are there still people in this House who want us to go back to be what we were all the years? I am not sure, but ask yourselves the question: What are we doing?
Nelson Mandela, together with his fellow comrades, led about 45 million South Africans of all colours out of apartheid and into democracy and constitutional equality. As a selfless leader he became the embodiment of this great achievement of South Africa.
As a reconciler, he sought unity among the people. He communicated this as follows, and I quote:
We place our vision of a new constitutional order for South Africa on the table not as conquerors, prescribing to the conquered. We speak as fellow citizens to heal the wounds of the past with the intent of constructing a new order based on justice for all.
This is the challenge that faces all South Africans today, and it is one to which I am certain we will all rise.
He had the courage to take on the mantle of such high expectations at the age of 76 when some of us were enjoying ourselves at home and doing nothing. He carried his responsibility with confidence and dignity and we appreciate the work that Nelson Mandela did.
During his inauguration as the first President of a democratic South Africa, on 10 May 1994, he had this to say:
The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us. We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation. We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination. … We commit ourselves to the construction of a complete, just and lasting peace.
We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of the millions of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity - a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.
Throughout his presidency Nelson Mandela remained true to this vision to make South Africa a rainbow nation that is at peace with itself and the world. This is the legacy that his presidency left us and it is for us to take it forward.
Today we have a rainbow nation that we must build because of our leaders, like Nelson Mandela. He did this because he was convinced of the ideal of democracy and nonracialism. This is an ideal which he hoped to live for and achieve. But if needs be, it was an ideal for which he was prepared to die.
The question that we must ask ourselves today is: What are we doing to keep the legacy of Mandela alive? This is a question we must ask us as leaders sitting in this House: What is it that we are going to do to emulate this icon, this brave and courageous man?
Today South Africa is faced with many challenges. It is therefore incumbent upon us to hold up the torch that Mandela raised so that we will be able to address our challenges. Yes, it is not easy because the expectations of South Africans about the pace of change are enormous.
However, we must remember that when the majority government came into power, the public service, the army, the police, industry and agriculture had to be transformed. This was amidst the great expectation for faster change from those who had been on the margin.
Hon members, the Presidency of Nelson Mandela has a special meaning for the NCOP. It was during his presidency that this institution made the transition from having a senate to the current version, namely the National Council of Provinces.
When addressing this House on 7 August 1998, President Mandela said and I quote:
The NCOP is uniquely placed to reflect the diversity of our society and to synthesise the experience of those spheres of government which are charged with the great bulk of the task of implementing our national programme of fundamental change.
He added that among the tasks the NCOP faced, the consensus-building work remained the most vital. He understood that members of the Cabinet are accountable collectively and individually to Parliament for how they exercised their powers and the performance of their functions. He also saw the NCOP as re-enforcing nation-building and co-operative government.
I am convinced that after 15 years of its existence this House has done what is expected of it. However, I also believe that it can still do more. So, today as we are paying tribute to a fearless warrior and champion of our democracy, we realise that much still needs to be done.
Mahatma Gandhi once said that you must be the change you want to see in the world. Nelson Mandela heeded this call. That is why he is respected around the whole world today. Who else has ever had a day declared an international day in their honour whilst they are still alive?
HON MEMBERS: Yes!
Today, we are proud to be South African because we know that we have a Mandela - ga gona yo o tshwanang le ena, ga gona [There is no one like him.] And the biggest present we can give to Mandela is to remain true to his vision and continue this unfinished work of making the lives of South Africans better.
American author H Jackson Brown Jr, once said, and I quote:
Live so that when your children think of fairness [caring] and integrity, they think of you.
Mandela could have become a respected traditional leader, presiding over his tribe, but he chose an unchartered and risky terrain of struggle. He chose to sacrifice.
I would like to wish the first President of the democratic South Africa improved health in his advanced age.
IsiXhosa:
Yaqhawuk' imbeleko
Zaqhawuk' ii-ankile zentiyo nengcinezelo
Hlamban' iintliziyo bantu bakwaMhlabuhlangene
Kuba ide yafika imini yenkululeko.
Ndiyabulela mawethu. Ndithethile. [I have spoken and I thank you.]
Mr C MARTIN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 382
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP
Mr C MARTIN (Eastern Cape): House Chairperson, Chairperson of the NCOP, Deputy Minister Marius Fransman, Members of the National Council of Provinces, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen and to our visitors from India, "Namaste" – good day.
Hon Chairperson, I want to thank you for gracing me with this opportunity to bring honour to the father of our nation. I must take this opportune moment to thank the team of doctors and international citizens who are working and praying around the clock to ensure that this great father of our nation and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, uTata Nelson Mandela, receives the best medical care and recovers fully from his ill health.
The sterling work they are doing to achieve this is greatly appreciated, and we hope that uTata will soon be released from the hospital to be with his family.
Hon Chairperson of the NCOP, there is no better place I would rather be on this day than in this august House to participate in this very important debate, which is in honour of the son of our province, uTata Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
He is one of the many extraordinary people that we have produced in our province for the benefit of the entire world. His fierce resistance and bravery against the oppressors is well documented and will remain etched in the history books of this nation and the world.
Nelson Mandela, whose birth name is Rolihlahla, meaning "troublemaker", was born on 18 July 1918, in the small village of Mvezo near Mthatha. Mvezo is in the former black homeland of Transkei, in the now Eastern Cape province. To describe his experience in his area of birth in Griekwa-khoi, I would say "Go Kuiume", meaning "a place where we have suffered much".
The name Nelson was given to him when he went to school. It was customary to have a "Western" or "European" name because most white people had problems pronouncing the names of black people.
When I speak of Rohlihlahla Nelson Mandela today, allow me to remind this House that former President Nelson Mandela would be the first to remind us all that the achievements our nation has attained should be credited to the collective he served with and not to him alone.
I want to quote Madiba when he says:
We are a great team. Leaders come and go, but the organisation and the collective leadership that has looked after the fortunes and reversals of this organisation will always be there.
He further states, referring to himself -
The ideas I express are not the ideas invented in my own mind. They stem from our fundamental programme, policy document the Freedom Charter; from the … resolutions of the National Conference and the decision of the National Executive Committee. It is not the individuals that matter; it is the collective leadership which has led this organisation so skilfully.
That is the nature of our organisation and the leadership style of Nelson Mandela and many before him and after him, like John Dube, Sefako Makgatho, Zacharias Mahabane, Josiah Gumede, Pixley Seme, Alfred Xuma, James Moroka, Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu. That is the very same nature of Thabo Mbeki, and it is still the case at present with our President in office, Jacob Zuma.
Chairperson, as we celebrate Madiba, one should therefore never forget the unsung heroes and heroines that shaped and moulded this great leader. The ANC with its magnificent policies and principles was then the perfect platform for any leader to advance the national democratic revolution.
Nelson Mandela was therefore collectively elected to be the face to advocate the ANC's goals and objectives. Hence I want to state that Mandela is synonymous with the ANC and, as Madiba himself so humbly states, he is not bigger than the ANC. [Applause.]
None of us in this House could have had the courage that he demonstrated when he told a court of apartheid South Africa that he was willing to die for a just cause in a just society – a society where there would not be any domination of one race by another.
When he came out of prison in 1990, he continued to communicate not only with words, but with actions, the message of peace, reconciliation, tolerance and mutual respect.
Even when our nation was on the brink of a civil war after the brutal killing of Comrade Chris Hani, the international community braced itself for anarchy and destructive retaliation. Madiba showed his mettle as a unifier of note and calmed an angry nation that was ready for such a war. This was a move that saved thousands of lives. At that time, Madiba called for calm and collected minds.
Therefore, one of the ways we can honour Madiba is by emulating these characteristics by learning to love each other, to live with each other and to share with each other. If a man, who was locked up for 27 years in jail for fighting for a just society, can come out of prison, sit around a table, have coffee with his oppressors and say that he forgives them, why cannot we do just that?
Hon Chairperson, if this is the calibre of leadership the ANC produces, then I am even more convinced that I have made the right choice to join its folds to continue the better life for all that Madiba had started in the tenure of the first ANC-elected government of 1994. [Applause.]
Today, as I honour a great man, I also bring great honour to a great organisation, because without the ANC there would have been no Madiba. It is not by chance that Nelson Mandela turned out to be the world-class leader he is today. The ANC provided the right environment conducive to germinate leaders with the traits, characteristics and likes of the Rholihlahla Nelson Mandelas through its fundamental principles and policies.
In conclusion, allow me to quote the befitting words of Grey's Anatomy – a series on television:
There's an end to every storm. Once all the trees have been uprooted, once all the houses have been ripped apart, the wind will hush. The clouds will part. The rain will stop. The sky will clear in an instant and only then, in those quiet moments after the storm, do we learn who was strong enough to survive it.
Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela went through many private, personal and professional storms in his 95 years, and we have always learned that after every storm he was strong enough to survive. With the words of Albert Einstein, referring to Mahatma Gandhi, I can say the same about Nelson Mandela, and I quote:
Generations to come, it may be, will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.
Ms E C VAN LINGEN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 383
Mr C MARTIN (EASTERN CAPE)
Ms E C VAN LINGEN: Chairperson, today we have an icon, but it did not start there for Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. It started at Mvezo in the Eastern Cape, where he was born on the 18 July 1918.
A Xhosa son born to the Thembu Royal Family, Mandela attended Fort Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand to study law. When the National Party came into power in 1948, they began to implement apartheid.
It was in 1952 that Nelson Mandela became involved in the ANC Youth League at the age of 34 years, becoming the youngest leader in the struggle. At the time, South Africa had the unbelievably inhumane apartheid legislation, which Helen Suzman, as a young Progressive Party member in Parliament, fought against in a parallel struggle.
There were pieces of legislation such as the detention-without-trial Act; The Pass Laws Act; Unlawful Organisations Act; Mixed Marriages Act; Immorality Act; Group Areas Act; and the Job Reservations Act.
In 1962 Mandela was arrested and later convicted, after which he went to jail for 27 years. It was during this term at Robben Island that Helen Suzman again visited him as the only white woman ever to take this compassionate step. They continued to communicate during those difficult years and circumstances for Mandela.
Fortunately he was not alone in the struggle against apartheid and several role-players supported the struggle for change from apartheid to freedom for all in South Africa.
In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison and eventually, on the day when he signed the new Constitution for South Africa, Helen Suzman, who was a DA member, was at his side by his request. It was his acknowledgement of her solitary struggle in Parliament against the system that was being brought to an end on that day.
When the first multiracial elections took place in 1994, Nelson Mandela led the ANC to victory to form a government of national unity, together with Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and Deputy President F W de Klerk. President Nelson Mandela, the statesman, led South Africa through a peaceful transition into a constitutional democracy, which could have gone into a violent civil war situation.
For his leadership qualities and individual integrity, he received more than 250 honours. There was the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, which he shared with President de Klerk; the U S Presidential Medal of Freedom; the Order of Canada; the Soviet Order of Lenin; and many, many more. He was called upon by many countries in the world to lead peace negotiations and he delivered with dignity.
We acknowledge with gratitude and praise what Tata Madiba has done for all of us in South Africa. He has set the example for us to build his dream rainbow nation of South Africa. We should emulate what he stood for every day.
He gave himself all the time to lead the young, to keep focused for 27 years while managing the ANC from the inside. Once released, he brokered with other stakeholders a new order in South Africa and ensured freedom for all South Africans, including even minority groups, in the new Constitution.
He served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Yes, he gave of himself, and that is the message for us on "Madiba Day" and every day – to give of our time and ourselves, not other people's money or state monies, but to give selflessly.
We must change our ways in government and return to the values and principles with which we started the constitutional democracy in 1994. Today we are paying tribute to a fearless warrior for social justice and a champion of our people. He never gave up.
He still gives to us today through the Nelson Mandela Children's Foundation, for example, and similarly, when he wore the number six green and gold rugby jersey standing next to Francois Pienaar at the opening of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa.
Let us uphold his legacy as an icon of our democracy, of justice, integrity and clean governance in South Africa and the world. As South Africans, we all share and salute our hero – the man the world came to love, honour and respect. Let us too treasure this legacy. [Applause.]
Mr T MTHEMBU (KwaZulu-Natal: CHAIRPERSON: AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENTS)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 384
Ms E C VAN LINGEN
Mr T MTHEMBU (Chairperson: Agriculture and Rural Settlements: KwaZulu-Natal): Hon Chair, I bring revolutionary greetings from KwaZulu-Natal to the hon presiding officer, Mr Tau, the hon Chair of the NCOP, Baba Mahlangu, all members of this august House and to our visiting guests from India.
As KwaZulu-Natal, we say that Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela sacrificed so much to ensure that the people of South Africa – black people and Africans in particular – were free from the shackles of apartheid and the legacy of colonialism.
While he was born into a relatively poor environment, Mandela was supposed to be better off than his peers because he was born into a royal family as the son of Chief Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa of the AbaThembu royalty, and he stood to inherit the chieftainship of the Mandela clan.
However, being the revolutionary that he had always been, Mandela avoided the chieftaincy, and the relative comfort that it could have brought him, and identified himself with the suffering masses, both in his village and throughout the country. That is where the legend that has become an international icon first began.
His arrival in Johannesburg and joining the ANC, only served to strengthen his resolve to fight the unjust system of apartheid. The campaigns he led as an ANC Youth League activist are well documented.
His activities as a founding member of the glorious army of the ANC, uMkhonto weSizwe, have become legendary, as hss his arrest at the now famous site of capture at Howick outside Pietermaritzburg.
As he wrote in his book, Long Walk to Freedom, he was inspired by former African kings, who had stood up against colonialism in the 18th century. He wrote, and I quote:
When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.
Mandela did all of this while he was a qualified lawyer. He could easily have forgotten about it all, practised law and lived a comfortable lifestyle as a successful attorney. However, being the revolutionary that he was, he decided to abandon his legal career and identify himself with the cause for the liberation of the oppressed masses.
The notorious Rivonia Trial, which followed his capture, was obviously a cruel ploy used by the apartheid regime to silence him, once and for all. Yet, even while in prison, Mandela continued to be a beacon of hope to the masses that carried on the struggle against apartheid. He not only inspired the masses, but served as a unifying figure, even amongst fellow inmates who were incarcerated with him at the time.
In 1990, after 27 years of imprisonment, Mandela was freed. His release marked the beginning of the end of apartheid. In less than five years after his release, Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and was elected the President of South Africa.
Today, thanks to the selfless sacrifices of Nelson Mandela, apartheid has been outlawed. Everyone in South Africa has an equal opportunity at home and at work to live comfortable and productive lives.
Nelson Mandela is one of the world's true freedom fighters, and his life and personal triumph will be remembered long after the world has forgotten the evils of apartheid. Shortly after his release from prison, Mandela was quoted in a daily newspaper, The Star, as saying, and I quote:
No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
When he emerged from prison in 1990, the whole world waited with bated breath, eager to know what he was going to do after such a cruel 27-year incarceration. He shocked the whole world when he embraced his tormentors and preached reconciliation.
This is what he has become very famous for, so much so that even those, who once called him a terrorist, embraced him and wanted to be identified with him. However, Mandela was merely representing a liberation movement that had moulded him into what he is today.
While many political analysts and opposition politicians may want to separate Mandela from the ANC, the bottom line is that he is what he is as a result of the ANC. [Interjections.] He is a product of the ANC. He was moulded by the leadership of the movement.
There are people who are desperately trying to appropriate the name and legacy of Nelson Mandela. It does not come as a surprise because those who want to appropriate his name and legacy are so used to stealing. They first seized our land, then our wealth and now they even want to hijack and steal the legacy of our icons. [Applause.]
However, as we celebrate the life, legacy and contribution of Mandela to the liberation of this country, we should remember his words as captured in his official autobiography, the Long Walk to Freedom, and I quote:
I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter. I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come; but I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.
The long walk has indeed not ended. Mandela may have done his share of work but the greatest responsibility now rests squarely on our shoulders to make sure that his sacrifices have not been not in vain. We can only do that by ensuring that we commit ourselves to the service of our people, that we intensify the fight against the scourge of corruption and rededicate ourselves to the service of mankind - just as Mandela did almost all his life.
Lastly, we can also do that by leading the second phase of our transition with excellence and commitment, to defeat the troika of unemployment, inequality and poverty. I wish Tata a speedy recovery.
Mr G G MOKGORO
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 385
Mr T MTHEMBU (CHAIRPERSON: AGRICULTURE AND RURAL SETTLEMENTS – KWAZULU-NATAL)
Mr G G MOKGORO: Hon Chairperson, it is indeed a great honour for me to participate in today's debate. I want to begin by saying that our thoughts are with Comrade Nelson Mandela, the father of the rainbow nation and the son of our glorious movement, the ANC.
We shall continue praying for his speedy recovery. He was admitted to hospital on 8 June 2013, and today is the 55th day that he has been lying on his back in a critical state, but even so, he is not giving up.
This depicts his true character, as we can recall that from an early age he showed attributes of a fighter and a leader. Comrade Mandela grew up listening to his elders narrating stories of his ancestors' heroism during the wars of resistance, and he also dreamt of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people. It is that dream which made Nelson Mandela the hero whom we all love and respect today because he had to work tirelessly to realise it.
It was not by chance that Nelson Mandela, together with A P Mda, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo became the founding members of the ANC Youth League, ANCYL, in 1944. We will recall the great impact that they made in shaping the direction that the leadership of the ANC had to take, going forward.
Comrade Madiba, with his dream still vivid and intact, rose progressively through the ranks of the ANCYL and through the work he undertook in the ANC. He continued his dream by contributing to a better ANC and changed it to a national movement.
It was in 1950 that he first tasted arrest as the leader of the ANC for opposing the government. In 1952, he was chosen as the national volunteer-in-chief of the Defiance Campaign and led from the front. As a result, together with other leaders, he was arrested and charged under the Suppression of Communism Act for taking part in the campaign.
Yet Comrade Madiba never gave up on his studies. He eventually completed a BA degree and thereafter a law diploma, which enabled him to practise as a lawyer together with his comrade, Oliver Tambo, by establishing the first black law firm, which was called Mandela and Tambo.
Becuse he led the Defiance Campaign as the national volunteer-in-chief, he was banned for the first time at the end of 1952 and could not take part in any political activity at that time. However, because of the dream he had he could not be stopped from secretly watching the adoption of the Freedom Charter at Kliptown, on 26 June 1955.
Again, at the end of the same year in December 1955, Comrade Madiba was arrested in a nationwide police swoop, together with other activists, which led to the famous 1956 Treason Trial. The Treason Trial became a marathon trial that only ended when the last 28 accused, including him, were acquitted on 29 March 1961.
The killing of unarmed protesters at Sharpeville and Langa on 21 March 1960, led to the country's first state of emergency on 31 March of the same year and the banning of the only home and hope, the ANC.
Just days before the end of the Treason Trial, Comrade Madiba attended the All in Africa Conference in Pietermaritzburg, and it was in this conference where he suddenly emerged from the audience, took to the stage and made a revolutionary speech in which he outlined the history of our struggle and the efforts that the ANC had made to get the National Party government to create conditions for peaceful negotiations.
However, the apartheid government continued with the intensification of their oppressive system against the black majority, and it was at that time that he asked the audience, "What methods can we use in order to attain our freedom?" The audience roared, "The armed struggle!"
It was then that they decided that an armed struggle must be initiated to take up arms against the enemy. The establishment of uMmkhonto weSizwe, the Spear of the Nation, was in response to the stubbornness of the National Party government for not listening to the grievances of the oppressed majority, and Comrade Madiba was appointed to lead the armed struggle.
As a result, in January 1962, Comrade Madiba, using his adopted name of David Motsamayi, secretly left South Africa, travelled around the continent and visited England to gain support for the armed struggle.
Comrade Madiba underwent military training in Morocco and Ethiopia as a soldier and guerrilla fighter. Upon his return to the country in July 1962, he briefed the president of the organisation, Chief Albert Luthuli, on his trip. It was after this briefing in August 1962, that Comrade Madiba was again arrested in a police roadblock outside Howick in KwaZulu-Natal.
It was this arrest that led to him being convicted and sentenced for five years for leaving the country illegally, and he was then transferred to Robben Island. Not very long thereafter, his comrades were arrested in a raid at a secret hide-out in Liliesleaf Farm. Comrade Madiba had to return to join them in a trial for sabotage, in what became known as the Rivonia Trial.
As all of them were facing the death penalty, Comrade Madiba again showed leadership and led from the front. Who can forget his famous speech from the dock on 20 April 1964, when he said, and I quote:
I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equality of opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.
This was a speech that made the judge feel a chilly sensation down his spine and he could not gather the strength to pass the death penalty.
In conclusion, as I have outlined above, Madiba has been and continues to be an inspiration to millions all over the world. When many institutions and organisations conferred honours and gifts upon him, he was the first to declare that he accepted those honours on behalf of the people of South Africa. In other words, Madiba understood himself to be part of a collective leadership of the ANC.
Lately there are some amongst us in this House who want to be associated with the good deeds of Comrade Madiba, with the intention of propping up their own image in the eyes of the black majority for their own selfish political gains.
To them the ANC says: Embrace him as your commander-in-chief of uMkhonto weSizwe; embrace him as a man of peace; embrace him as a volunteer-in-chief of the Defiance Campaign; embrace him as a man who led reconciliation on behalf of the ANC; embrace him as a world-class statesman; embrace him as a man of the people, from rural Qunu and Mvezo; embrace him with all his shortcomings; and finally, embrace him with the values he espoused, that cannot be separated from his organisation, the ANC. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr G MASHAMBA (CHAIRPERSON: AGRICULTURE – LIMPOPO)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 386
Mr G G MOKGORO
Mr G MASHAMBA: (CHAIRPERSON: AGRICULTURE – LIMPOPO): Halala Madiba, halala!
HON MEMBERS: Halala!
Mr G MASHAMBA: Hi hanyele Mandela, hi hanyele!
HON MEMBERS: Hi hanyele! [Long live Mandela, long live!].
Mr G MASHAMBA: Hon Chairperson, members of the Council, if it were my choice, I would say I'm covered, but then the Limpopo province would never forgive me, so I must speak.
Madiba did not ooze from the ground niether did he drop from the sky. He is not an angel from heaven. Madiba is not a political orphan; he has a home. The colours of the ANC are in his DNA. Madiba is an icon today and we have 18 July as a Madiba Day.
What a man and what a day! Madiba is not Father Christmas either. Many a time when we celebrate his day, we have a tendency of going around giving away houses, blankets and so on.
Madiba is a rebel and a revolutionary democrat. Madiba day is a rebel's day and a revolutionary's day. He rebelled against injustice and a government based on injustice; a government that had robbed our people their right to land, the right to their sovereignty and their human dignity.
Madiba is a rebel. If you want to remember him, then you must rebel against any form of injustice that may count in this country.
It is important to remember that Madiba was rebelling against a system of injustice.
He taught us in the ANC that we are not fighting against the white people, but we are fighting against the system. The task for us now is to build a system that will enable us to live together as one people, black and white, in accordance with the vision of the people that was adopted in 1955 at Kliptown.
Madiba, as a rebel, did not go around like Father Christmas giving gifts; he mobilised our people, organised them, led them and empowered them to be their own liberators. He is a fighter and a warrior. Those which we see as philanthropic deeds are a by-product of the struggle against injustice.
Madiba is a strategist and tactician. He knew when to advance and when to retreat. That is why, when Madiba realised that the odds were against us because the world was turning around and the socialist campus group was collapsing, and some of the African states were having second thoughts, he knew that it would be important to temporise, compromise and enter into negotiations with the enemy.
It is important to know that Madiba led all of us from the land of slavery, the Egypt of South Africa. We crossed the Red Sea and all of us were excited that now we had freedom, but little did we know that we were actually entering the desert of Sinai.
Like Moses, Madiba found himself with the people, who were now expecting all the wonderful things in the land of milk and honey. Many, among the sons and the children of Israel, rebelled against Moses. We were in slavery, but at least we knew where to find food and where to sleep, but in the desert of Sinai there was nothing.
The same thing is facing us today. The children of Israel had 40 years to go before they crossed the River Jordan. Today Madiba is lying in hospital hoping that there will be a Joshua to take us across the River Jordan. Madiba has left us an education which teaches that you don't take on tasks you are not prepared for.
In 1961, the ANC planned to rebel against the pass laws. Some people jumped the gun and we suffered a great tragedy. Today there are some who tell us that you must here and now start to implement this Charter in toto; we must nationalise; we must take the land; and do everything.
Madiba was no an economic freedom fighter. Madiba was no constitutional democrat. Madiba was a revolutionary democrat who understood only too well that the issues of the economy and the Constitution are part of the revolutionary process and they must be viewed holistically.
In 1956, after the Freedom Charter had been adopted, he warned that it wasn't enough for us to read the Freedom Charter, understand it and analyse it. If that was all, then it would be academic and it would be useless to us.
He said that there are two issues we have to take into account, and these two issues are still valid even today. He told us first to look at South Africa to find out whether there were social forces in our country that would be able meaningfully to implement the Charter. Most importantly, we had to make sure that those forces were empowered and ready to carry out the task.
Many people did not answer that question. I often said in Limpopo that some of us behave like a little school kid who comes back from school at 1 o'clock and demands his food here and now. When the mother tells him that she couldn't start cooking on time because the water is still boiling, he says: "No, put mealie meal into the pot, let's eat." Obviously pap cannot be made from a mixture of cold water and mealie meal. It would be a disaster.
The ANC therefore decided at its last national conference that we must make a radical shift. But in order to do so, you needed to produce the relevant cadres who would be able to carry out this task. Like we did in 1961, when we began the armed struggle, we knew we had to plan and create the necessary a force made up of cadres to carry out this task – and even today we have to do so.
Members of the ANC know only too well that when we came here in 1994, we, the tempered tools of Madiba, walked along with those whom we found in a state - some of whom were not actually buying into the vision that we had. It is important now to have cadres who understand and who have the vision and the commitment, not just skills, for us to move forward. [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, your speaking time has expired. You have one minute to finish.
Mr G MASHAMBA: Hon Chairperson, in closing, I would like to point out that as we move from this Council, let us make sure that we fight for the final consummation of the national revolution. We will do so by making sure that we win over our fellow South Africans to our way of thinking.
After all, Madiba taught us that if you are arguing with your enemy, you must never want to fight to win the argument; rather win him or her over to your side, so that you can move forward as one people and one country. [Applause.]
Mr O DE BEER
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 387
Mr G MASHAMBA (CHAIRPERSON: AGRICULTURE – LIMPOPO)
Mr O DE BEER: Hon Chairperson, what a wonderful mrabulo [speech] for today!
When celebrating the life of the people's icon, Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, we are not just singing the praises of a great leader, but we are also reflecting on the greatness, values and moral direction of the example that he set.
President Nelson Mandela spent 25 years of his life in prison as an agent of change, a liberator and an activist of the people. He was a dedicated son of the soil and the father of a nation and he understands the dynamics of society.
We normally celebrate the life of a person when we stand in front of an open grave, but today we can still stand proudly, bring flowers to Madiba and see him smile, even though he is in hospital – as Archbishop Desmond Tutu onfirmed.
Let's share the great moments and lessons from his unwavering stance during and after the Rivonia Trial, where he stood firm and was not afraid to challenge his oppressors. He understood African pain and desire and the heart of the people, stating, and I quote:
If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.
From this perspective he could rise as a politician, leader and father. When President Mandela said that to deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity, he understood the frustrations and inner pain of a nation. Even today, on his hospital bed, he still has the same dreams.
His humility and character set a specific and clear road for us when he said, and I quote:
I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.
This indicates to us that we need to lead with our feet on the ground. He also said, and again I quote:
Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronisingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.
Mr Chairperson, let's keep the Mandela flame of hope burning by being fair and honest, staying true to the Constitution and by acting with impunity against anyone or any action that would want to destroy the Mandela example and legacy. Let's act as a united force against such behaviour before it kills the Mandela dream.
He studied and did not have to go to jail, but his people's freedom was important. He chose to voice the pain of an oppressed nation.
Afrikaans:
As ons daardie karaktereienkappe kan uitleef, dan sal Suid-Afrika 'n ander soort plek wees – een van vrede, welvaart en voorpoed. Dit is die geskenk wat President Nelson Mandela aan ons nagelaat het – om soos hy die toekoms vir die kinders te bewaar.
Afrika kan uit sy voorbeeld leer en die wêreld kan vandag anders sien deur die oë van 'n groot gees, die ou Staatshoof, Nelson Mandela. Mag sy gesondheid by die dag verbeter en hy sterker word.
Mr M S A MASANGO
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 387
Mr O DE BEER
Mr M S A MASANGO: Hon Chairperson, Mr M J Mahlangu, members of the NCOP, special delegates and leaders of political parties, the Mpumalanga legislature feels singularly honoured and privileged to be allowed to participate in today's debate and pay tribute to this indefatigable people's warrior, freedom fighter, great intellectual, nation-builder, statesman and unifier of humanity par excellence, former President of the ANC and the Republic, Comrade Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
In addition to his incalculable contribution to South Africa, Africa and the world, rarely has humanity united around a person in order to do good for others, as happened this year on 18 July 2013.
Only Nelson Mandela unites humanity, regardless of people's Christian, Hindu, Muslim or African traditional beliefs. Only Nelson Mandela united humanity all over the world, regardless of race, sexual orientation, sporting codes, status or political and ideological beliefs, to celebrate his birthday on 18 July 2013 and other years. Indeed, he is a unifier par excellence.
Our profound gratitude goes to the UN's 63rd General Assembly sitting of 2009, which declared that 18 July be celebrated each year as Nelson Mandela International Day.
We also owe a deep debt of gratitude to President Zuma for calling upon South Africans, in his 2009 state of the nation address, to dedicate 67 minutes of their time to doing something for others to honour Mandela's 67 years of service to humanity.
IsiNdebele:
Phola qhegu Mandela phola, usiphilele godu eminye iminyaka eminengi!
Sihlalo ohloniphekileko, nge-18 kuVelabahlinze 2013, ikutana nanyana ikakaramba le eyahlonitjhwa ngesiThwalandwe yihlangano ye-ANC beyihlanganisa iminyaka ema-95 idla amabele. Sinetjhudu ke thina kobana ikakaramba le ibelethelwe lapha eSewula Afrika, begodu yakhuliswa yihlangano ye-ANC kezombanganarha.
English:
Indeed, Nelson Mandela is a fearless warrior for social justice. That is why as far back as 1942, he joined the ANC. In 1944 together with O R Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Lembede and others, he founded the ANC Youth League to fight in order to end the pervasive social injustice that blighted our political landscape.
He evinced his fearless determination by enlisting as a volunteer-in-chief of the Defiance Campaign in 1952 to defy the unjust apartheid laws that the National Party government was making. He participated in the consultative process with the people – led by the ANC – about the future South Africa, which led to the adoption of the Freedom Charter in 1955.
He risked his life by joining and training secretly as an uMkhonto weSizwe combatant in 1962. In 1964 he indicated to the court that he was prepared to die for freedom, justice and fundamental human rights for all.
Mandela was indeed a fearless warrior like Jongintaba Dalindyebo, Hintsa, Mswati, Sekhukhune, Makhado, Nyabela, Shaka, Nghunghunyani, Moshoeshoe and Bhambata, just to mention a few. He was a fearless warrior for self-determination and equality just like John Langalibalele Dube, Pixley ka Isaka Seme, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyatta, Thomas Sankara, Martin Luther King Jr, W E B Du Bois, just to mention a few.
He was indeed a champion for the course of building a nonracial, nonsexist, democratic and prosperous South, Africa. He became a stoic fighter when history required it, but when history required it he also become a saintly reconciler, skilful negotiator and forgiver.
Much as he is humble, he did not suffer fools easily. When necessary, he was forthright and fearless in articulating the ANC's perspectives at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa, Codesa.
His potency enhanced our sovereignty in the international family of nations when he criticised countries that attacked others, governments that hanged their political prisoners and countries that continued to colonise others.
When we celebrate his birthday, let us remind ourselves that he is a proud product of the ANC and its allied progressive forces. Nelson Mandela is a true champion of our people, black and white. He was among the first architects of the new South Africa.
We in Mpumalanga agree that every day we should live his celebrated attributes of humility, modesty, probity and his ability to relate to people of all kinds in the world. This great champion of our people bequeathed us constitutional democracy, extraordinary leadership, peaceful neighbourliness, gender equality and championed the African Renaissance and unity for humanity.
IsiNdebele:
Maye! Qhegu lakwa Mandela, wena Dalibunga, ngingatjho ngithini mina wakomina, ngiyini!
English:
Let us not forget that his enduring legacy is the primacy of the Constitution, universal adult suffrage, a common voters' roll, regular elections, a multiparty system and representivity. What a mark of astute statesmanship.
As I conclude, let me say that Nelson Mandela's enduring legacy is not easily quantifiable. As humanity we must do more for others, and we must mobilise ourselves around his unifying principles and values. In Mpumalanga we will strive for that humble contribution.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was indeed a fearless warrior for social justice and a courageous champion for our people and humanity. What an apt topic for this debate!
IsiNdebele:
Sihlalo, inarha ayilale, iinhliziyo zipharumelane. Ngiyathokoza. [Iwahlo.]
Ms L MABIJA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 388
Mr M S A MASANGO
Tshivenda:
Mufumakadzi Vho L MABIJA: Mutshimbidzamushumo vhane vha dovha hafhu vhavha Mudzulatshidulo, Vho mailausumbwa vhothe vhane vha vha fhano duvhani la namusi, khathihi na vhaeni vhothe vho dzulaho kha vhugalatenga, ndi masiari. Fhedzi-ha, kha vha ntendele ...
English:
... to join this debate by wishing Isithalandwe, Tata Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, a speedy recovery and a happy 95th birthday.
I would like to remind the Council that Nelson Mandela was not only in the forefront when he had to speak for the oppressed masses of our people or when he had to represent them in the apartheid courts, he also led from the front when the time to take up arms arrived.
Nelson Mandela was not only part of the ANC leadership collective which took a decision to take up arms when everything else had failed, he was also the first trained soldier of uMkhonto weSizwe.
The liberation of the people of South Africa was so important to Madiba that he was prepared lay down his life for the cause of the people of this country. It is common cause that the glorious army of the ANC, uMkhonto weSizwe, played an important role in putting pressure on the apartheid government, forcing them to negotiate with the legitimate representatives of the people.
Nelson Mandela has always been a very disciplined cadre – I repeat, a very disciplined cadre – who followed the instructions of the structures he served in. When comrades were being detained in large numbers after the banning of the ANC, he knew that there was a warrant for his arrest, but continued to play a central role in the successful June 1961 three-day strike that was organised under the banner of the National Action Council.
On 26 June 1961, he released a press statement in which he said the following, and I quote:
I am informed that a warrant for my arrest has been issued, and that the police are looking for me. The National Action Council has given full and serious consideration to this question, and has sought the advice of many trusted friends and bodies and they have advised me not to surrender myself. I have accepted this advice, and will not give myself up to a government I do not recognise.
In the same statement, Madiba further stated that-
For my own part I have made my choice. I will not leave South Africa, nor will I surrender. Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can freedom be won. The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.
Here Madiba was showing us that he was part of a leadership collective that discussed and took a decision on what they thought would be the best option for the movement at the time, though it meant a sacrifice on his part.
He allowed himself to be lead by the leadership collective. He understood the role that he had to play in mobilising people to resist the oppression that they faced under the apartheid state. That is why he made a personal sacrificed in pursuing the bigger goal of achieving freedom for all.
In 1952, a decade before being imprisoned, he spoke against the introduction of Bantu education. He said, and I quote:
Make every home, every shack, or rickety structure a centre of learning.
Robben Island, where he was imprisoned, became a centre of learning; and Mandela was in the forefront, encouraging comrades to study and equip themselves with knowledge. He was also central in organising political education on the island.
When the ANC took over the government and Mandela was elected President, it was no surprise that education was one of the main focus areas of government. He and the ANC understood the importance of educating the nation and the challenges we faced when it came to addressing the backlog caused by Bantu education.
It makes one wonder why on earth, here in the Western Cape, 17 schools were closed down. Thanks goodness that it's been forgotten and they are now open. Thank you very much. [Laughter.]
It makes one wonder how people can really disregard the wishes of Nelson Mandela when he said that we should make every home, every shack, or rickety structure a centre of learning. It makes one wonder how they used their brains.
Madiba was not doing things for selfish reasons, as can be seen above, as well as from a statement he released from prison after a meeting with P W Botha on 12 June 1989, in which he said, and I quote:
The statement issued by the Minister of Justice, Mr Kobie Coetsee, on the meeting between the state President and myself, is an accurate reflection of what happened at that meeting. The statement, however, constitutes no deviation from the position I have taken over the past 29 years, namely that dialogue with the mass democratic movement and, in particular, with the ANC, is the only way of ending violence and bringing peace to our country.
I made this statement in response to comments in the media concerning the meeting with the State President. I believe, however, that at this early stage, further statements to the press as a means of conducting possible future discussions would not be the appropriate course of action to promote peaceful development. I would only like to contribute to the creation of a climate which would promote peace in South Africa.
Madiba was again indicating the centrality of the ANC and that he was only acting as a servant of the ANC and the people of South Africa. He was indicating that his independence cannot be separated from that of the people of South Africa, and that he was to make a contribution to achieve the freedom of the oppressed.
The apartheid state tried to divorce Madiba from the ANC in 1960s by incarcerating him. When they failed to do so, they then tried to force him to denounce the ANC and its programmes, including the arms struggle. But again, they did not succeed.
During the incarceration of Madiba, the ANC with the assistance of the antiapartheid movement, was able to unite the world against the brutal apartheid state and mobilise support for the mass democratic movement.
The release of Madiba and other political prisoners was used as a mobilising tool that saw the apartheid government being isolated by the international world. The President of the ANC, Oliver Reginald Tambo, was mobilising the world in support of the release of Madiba and other political prisoners, whilst mobilising against the apartheid state.
The President of the ANC, Comrade O R Tambo, was being recognised as the de facto president of the country. Whilst the South African government was kicked out of the United Nations, he was allowed to address the UN on behalf of the people of South Africa. He called for the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners and the isolation of the apartheid state.
The international sports boycott, championed by people like Peter Haines and Sam Ramsamy, was very useful in uniting the sport federations in countries right across the world. Apartheid South Africa was losing all its friends and the campaign for the release of Mandela was gaining momentum.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, your speaking time has expired. Please round off, you have one minute.
Ms L MABIJA: Currently we have observed commentators and those that were responsible for his incarceration, now wanting to divorce Madiba from the ANC and even attempting to claim him as theirs.
The ANC is proud to have cultivated the calibre of leaders in the mould of Madiba and others in his generation. We will continue to build a strong leadership that will continue to play a significant role, not only in the country but also on the continent and in the world. The ANC will continue in the legacy that was left by Madiba. Madiba was the 10th President of the ANC and the first democratically elected President of South Africa. [Applause.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: That is enough. [Laughter.]
Order, order! Hon members, you can time yourself. The watch is right in front of you. You don't have to wait for the Chair to say the time is up. [Laughter.]
Mr P D N MALOYI
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 389
CLLR F MABOA-BOLTMAN- SALGA
Mr P D N MALOYI: NORTH WEST: MEC-HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: Chairperson, I am back in the House where I started.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes, that is good – a product of this House.
Mr P D N MALOYI: MEC OF THE NORTH WEST: Chairperson of the NCOP, hon Mahlangu; the House Chairperson, hon Tau; the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, hon Fransman; hon members of the NCOP; special delegates; and ladies and gentlemen I have been requested to pay tribute in 10 minutes to one of the greatest men of our time, a leader of the ANC, a man whose blood is not red, but black, green and gold. So, I am not sure if I will be able to comply with your instructions, Chair, but I will try my best.
As a result of only having these 10 minutes, I am not sure where to start so I will start at the beginning.
Mvezo is a tiny village on the banks of the Mbashe River in the city of Umtata. Yet this tiny village produced a Nelson Mandela, the man whom we are celebrating today.
Mama Mosekeni Fanny, the dearest third wife of Chief Gadla Henry Mandela gave birth to their beloved son on 18 July 1918. They named him Rolihlahla, the literal meaning of which is "pulling the branch of a tree". However, the colloquial meaning is "troublemaker".
In celebration of his birth, Chief Gadla Mandela slaughtered a goat and mounted the horns in the house. Little did he know that he was raising a colossus who would one day stride the soil of our mother earth and that Rolihlahla would be celebrated in all the corners of the world.
In the book, Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela himself, describes Mveso as a place apart, a tiny precinct, removed from the world of great events, where life was lived, as it had been for 100 years - a land rich in beauty, as it was in myth and history.
The ancestral lineage and history of Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela is evidently rooted in the Aba-Thembu people and the Madiba clan. His father was renowned for his strictness and stubbornness because he never kowtowed before the white autocratic rulers.
When celebrating the 95th birthday of Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela, we also pay homage to the glorious people of Mveso and the warriors of Aba-Thembu, they who produced this fearless agent of change called Rolihlahla, the troublemaker, Nelson Mandela.
Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela is one of the founding fathers of the ANC Youth League, together with other leaders such as Anton Lembede, O R Tambo, Walter Sisulu, and many activists of that time. He is, of course, the first commander-in-chief of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the first President of the democratic South Africa.
In the North West, as part of the 67 minutes of volunteer work in memory of Rolihlahla Mandela, the Premier of the North West and I took a decision to give Mandela a birthday present. That birthday present was a project that costs R3,5 billion. It is an integrated Human Settlements Development programme.
This project, which is in Mahikeng, is a multiclass project, which will allow people to settle where they live and to play and worship together. They can do all the necessary things together. We want to honour Mandela with this particular project. [Applause.]
We are here today to pay the highest compliment to a man who has dedicated his entire life to the fight against the apartheid regime; a man who directed a defiance campaign against the apartheid government and its racist policies; a man who fought hard against racial discrimination in all its manifestations; a man who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his efforts to dismantle the country's apartheid system.
Dr Nelson Mandela, the North West province says, Tata, [father] we love you. Get well soon.
We understood him very well when he said, and I quote:
Friends, comrades and fellow South Africans, I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all. I stand here before you, not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.
This is a statement he made shortly after his release from imprisonment. He has indeed predicted that at some point it will not be possible for him to pursue his longstanding vision of changing the lives of ordinary citizens.
He has now placed his remaining years of his life in our hands. We are therefore duty-bound to remain steadfast, focused and resolute in order to sustain his legacy.
Today we can state unequivocally that Dr Nelson Mandela remains a fearless warrior and champion of our democracy. His fundamental approach in dealing with the legacy of apartheid became evident when he made the bold statement that our country needed a RDP of the soul – a reconstruction and redevelopment programme of the soul.
Briefly let me remind you what the RDP programme says, and I quote:
The RDP integrates economic growth, development, reconstruction and redistribution into a unified programme. The key to this link is an infrastructural programme that will provide access to modern and effective services like electricity, water, telecommunications, transport, health, education and training for all our people.
This will lead to an increased output in all sectors of the economy, and by modernising our infrastructure and human resource development we will also enhance export capacity. Success in linking reconstruction and development is essential if we are to achieve peace and security for all.
Hon members, this document remains a living document to this day. If you read the presidential infrastructure programme today, you will see that it talks to this document. This is a document which was born of the Freedom Charter.
As the North West, we continue to take pride in this great man's legacy. This is a man who has left an indelible mark on our province, in particular in the dusty villages of Dinokana in Ngaka Modiri Molema District.
Today the children of Dinokana have a state-of-the-art Science school where every child, irrespective of the colour of his or her skin, can read from the same book, in the same class, with the necessary learning materials. This is as a result of the contribution of Nelson Mandela.
In the former conservative towns of Ventersdorp, Lichtenburg, Vryburg, Stella, Schweizer-Reineke and so on, both black and white have accepted each other and they live in peace and harmony.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, your speaking time has expired and you have one minute for closing.
Mr P D N MALOYI: One minute for closing, hon Chairperson? Let me conclude – I said 10 minutes were not enough. [Laughter.]
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is one of the ideologues and proponents of our popular struggle for freedom and democracy. The day, 18 July 2013, marks his 95th birthday. He was the first black President of the democratically elected government of the Republic of South Africa.
At the moment former President Mandela is old, frail and resting. However, we remain tireless in wishing him a long life and good health.
I must, in conclusion, take this opportunity to thank both his parents for having given us Mandela. We must also thank Evelyn, Winnie and Graca Machel for having allowed Nelson Mandela to be a committed member of the ANC. We must also thank the ANC for having produced this great leader of our time.
Mr J J GUNDA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 390
Mr P D N MALOYI
Mr J J GUNDA: Hon Chair, hon House Chair, hon Deputy Minister, colleagues and all protocol observed, it is indeed a very important debate and unfortunately time does not allow one to say everything one would like to say.
It is a privilege to participate in paying tribute to a leader of the calibre of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Hon Chair, "Nelson" means "honoured", and indeed, we should to honour this man.
The role that Nelson Mandela played in the ANC makes him one of the outstanding leaders of the liberation movement. Indeed, the ANC can be proud that Nelson Mandela is one of the outstanding leaders in the ANC.
Let me quote some words of wisdom by Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, and I quote:
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
He also said that-
If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.
Leaders must be generous, predisposed to give their resources to others. They believe a candle loses nothing when it lights another. That was and still is Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela showed his generosity in leadership in several ways and let me just mention a few. He was generous with his compassion, compliments, courtesy, credibility and commitment.
One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving. That is Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Leaders who fail to display generosity should ask themselves: Do I really love the people I lead? We have an obligation, as leaders, to retain the values and principles of Nelson Mandela so that it can live forever amongst our children and tell them the truth.
Albert Pike said:
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
Hon Chair, Let me just say the following: There is a statue in front of Parliament and to honour Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, it is time that we remove that statue and put it here, inside the yard and instead put a statue of Mandela there. [Applause.]
That is where it belongs because Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was the first democratic President of this country. We must stop asking and making excuses for things that we know we have to do.
To honour our leaders is to tell them the truth; to tell our children the history of this country. You can't tell the children the history of the country if you hide the history. The truth might hurt, but it will heal you.
My time is nearly up, but let me say that Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is a man of character and principles. Character is more than talk. Talent is a gift, but character is a choice. Character brings lasting success with people, but leaders cannot rise above the limitations of their character. That is Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela!
In conclusion, I salute you Tata Madiba. Long live the spirit of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, long live! Amandla!
HON MEMBERS: Awethu!
Mr J J GUNDA: Viva Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela, viva!
HON MEMBERS: Viva! [Applause.]
Cllr F MABOA-BOLTMAN (Salga)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 390
Mr J J GUNDA
Cllr F MABOA-BOLTMAN (Salga): Chairperson, Ntate Mahlangu; the district manager in our midst; hon Members of Parliament; members of provincial legislatures; MECs; hon Chair of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders …
Sesotho:
... ke a tseba ha ke a mmona ...
English:
... but I thought he was going to be here; and guests, some of whom have moved.
It is truly an honour and privilege for us as members of Salga to be able to participate in these debates and pay our own tribute to the father of our nation, Ntate Nelson Mandela. It provides us with an opportunity for reflection and to honour Madiba, while we are drawing on his life's experience to reinvigorate our efforts to develop our country into a prosperous nation.
So many others dedicated their lives like Ntate Mandela did and we also honour them. While we should never forget the contributions of so many of our struggle heroes and heroines to this free and democratic society, today we are celebrating Madiba and what he means to us as South Africans. I am talking in terms of local government in particular.
As a leader in the struggle against apartheid and a founding member of the ANC Youth League, as most of the other members who stood here said, Mandela was instrumental in initiating the ANC's programme of action against unjust apartheid laws, which included a symbolic burning of his pass book ahead of increasing mass action against the government.
Facing the ultimate crisis of his life, he did not back down and uttered those immortal words from the dock at the Rivonia Treason Trial. Instead of receiving a death sentence, he spent 27 years in prison and emerged to rise remarkably above hate and vengeance. He instead embraced peace and reconciliation.
Like some of the speakers, including Ntate Mahlangu, who asked the same question when they stood here at the podium, I wonder how many of us would practice this in our personal and political lives like Tata did.
His leadership as the first democratically elected President of South Africa was instrumental in consolidating democracy. His administration instituted widespread government programmes to redress the inequalities of the past.
Not only did he live to see and achieve his ideal, but it is going to be 20 years now – maybe I must say 20 years into democracy, we continue to be blessed with his awe-inspiring presence.
The inception of the White Paper on Local Government, which was tabled on 9 March 1998, was a true milestone in the realisation of the vision of this great man. It has mapped the way for a developmental local government that has a critical role to play in rebuilding local communities and the environment as the basis for a democratic, integrated, prosperous and a truly nonracial society.
Our transformation from a society that was rooted in discrimination and disparity to a constitutional democracy posed, and continues to pose, particularly profound challenges at local-government level. It is here that acute imbalances in personal wealth, physical infrastructure and the provision of services were, and often still are, obvious.
The level of leadership and personal sacrifice that was shown by Baba Madiba, both as freedom fighter and a statesman, serves as inspiration to us as public representatives in local government. It set an example for us to not rest until our people enjoy the benefits of freedom that so many other things that were fought for.
Therefore we remain mindful of the task that lies ahead of us, and remain committed to ensuring that Mandela's fighting spirit and legacy lives forever. The sacrifices made by Madiba, in order to bring about the freedom that we now enjoy, equally obliges us to honour his commitment and selfless endeavour by serving our people with no less distinction.
The Mandela Day serves as a chance for South Africans to contribute to his legacy of nation-building and service to others. Let us therefore commit to – and I want to put it in quotes – "Make every day a Mandela day" in service of our people. Salga celebrated Mandela Day this year by assisting with the refurbishment of dilapidated facilities at schools, donations to various youth and children facilities, as well as feeding schemes for orphaned and other vulnerable children.
If anything, Madiba has proved through his own example that faith, hope and charity are qualities that are not beyond the attainment by humanity. We must strive to emulate his indomitable spirit. Some people were talking about him in terms of his endeavour with regards to encouraging people on education. I have a quotation here of something he once said:
Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor; that the son of a mineworker can become the head of that mine; that a child of a farm worker can become the President of a great nation.
I believe we are as one when we say, let us solemnly pray for the continued life and the wellbeing of Tata Madiba. May our Father in heaven grant our prayers ...
IsiZulu:
... njalo uma sithandaza ...
English:
... for the father of our nation – the great nation.
IsiZulu:
Amnikeze ukuphila, aphole, nomzimba uphole. Ngiyabonga. Amandla! [Ihlombe.]
Mr A FIGLAN (WESTERN CAPE – CHAIRPERSON: HUMAN SETTLEMENTS)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 391
Cllr F MABOA-BOLTMAN
IsiXhosa:
Mnu A FIGLAN: SIHLALO WENTSHONA KOLONI (WEZOKUHLALISWA KOLUNTU): Sihlalo, nam ngolu suku mandixhamle kwintetho yengwevu uBawo uRholihlahla Mandela, uYemyem, uNgqolomsila, ndithi mandibeke isoyi.
English:
The objective of Nelson Mandela Day is built upon the values, leadership qualities and moral integrity which are abundant in the legacy of the man, Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela.
Mandela's legacy is aimed at the healing, holistic development not only South Africa, but also society worldwide. Our contribution to society should be guided by the yearning to keep the legacy alive with renewed energy and vigour in order to make the world a better place for all.
We, as the South African nation, should take the lead on this African continent and in the world in order to honour Madiba's legacy. We should take concrete steps towards the creation of the environment in which generosity, humanity, morality and accountability forms an integral part of every minute, every day and every month of the year – and it should not be a mere 67 minutes a year - in order for the Mandela legacy to become our own legacy.
We need to actively live out and express the principles and values which are dedicated towards the achievement of Madiba's legacy in all our communities. The first public speech that Mandela gave as a free man on Friday, 11 February 1990, encapsulated his commitment to peace and reconciliation. It gave us a glimpse of the South Africa he had envisaged, namely the national reconciliation and unification of all ethnic groups within our boundaries.
Madiba, through his fearless and forgiving efforts, reconciled a nation through sport with the simple gesture of wearing the number six Springbok T-shirt when he presented the 1995 Rugby World Cup to the nation.
It was a rare moment in time for our nation when the cultural warmth generated by Madiba's action exploded on the field, our television screens and in our lounges and was carried across the boundaries and divides of our world. He understood the lasting legacy of that gesture and that it would bring about the unification of the nation.
Madiba knew that the pride generated by the moment would last a lifetime. Nelson Mandela is South Africa's ambassador of good values and virtues. The hard-earned lessons he learnt in life moulded and guided his every action. His rare ability to convert experiences and objectives into practical, conscious and deliberate applications has served this nation and the world.
It is this very legacy of Madiba that has mobilised the all of humanity to work towards the implementation of these extraordinary yet simple values. Mandela's dedication and disciplined vision of a harmonious, just and equal society is implemented through the dedication of our time and efforts to the advancement of our communities.
We should relentlessly defend our democracy and democratic institutions. All South Africans should foster moral regeneration, especially among the youth, and ensure that the values of ubuntu, as advocated by Madiba, are promoted by helping each other to weather the storm, which has been created by the economic crunch to ensure a lasting and a caring community.
We should fight for the liberation of others, giving consideration to the barriers which have been created by class, ethnicity, race, religion, greed or geographical borders. We should love one other as human beings and ensure that we bring hope to the hopeless as well as the courage to fight against all forms of oppression.
This should include the fight for and work towards the realisation of the values as enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
We should consistently strive towards the creation of sustainable livelihoods for all of humanity. We should intensify the efforts for implementing the key manifesto priorities within communities in honour of Madiba, thereby creating the lasting spirit of ubuntu and a living legacy of Madiba.
Ban Ki-moon recently said of Nelson Mandela, and I quote:
We are also joined in admiration for a towering figure in the world-wide fight for equality and justice, a model of compassion and integrity, a man who took on and then gracefully relinquished the responsibility of power.
The heart of Nelson Mandela international day is good works for people and the planet. Its theme is meant to mobilize the human family to do more to build a peaceful, sustainable and equitable world. This is the best tribute we can pay to an ordinary man who embodies the highest values of humanity.
Rev Jessie Jackson praised Nelson Mandela's commitment and his efforts to achieve reconciliation. While Mr Mandela's emphasis was on forgiveness and tolerance, he was also determined to continue fighting for social justice. Rev Jackson said, and I quote:
Social [justice] transformation is an intentional act. It is because of Nelson Mandela's sacrifice that South Africa is free today.
In whichever way the international community pays homage to Madiba, he is first a South African and we, the South African nation, are the heirs to his far-reaching legacy. It is therefore our duty to keep his legacy alive.
The price has been paid, the struggle has been fought. We, in South Africa, and internationally, should consciously make those principles which Mandela stood for part of our daily activities and live every moment for achieving the goal of the legacy which he has set for us.
The legacy that Nelson Mandela leaves South Africa, and the wider international community, should serve as a catalyst for the ability to foster social cohesion. It should also be the essence of nation-building and a cornerstone of economic development that is conducive to include citizens.
When last did all the people of our world stand together, united as on 18 July 2013? Nelson Mandela has inspired and challenged people from all over the world to contribute at least 67 minutes of their personal time, service, wisdom and skills in his global efforts to change the world in a positive manner and by doing so, making it a better place for all who live in it.
Across the world Nelson Mandela is revered as a moral authority with an unflinching concern for truth. He has embraced enemies and friends alike. He had an unwavering belief in democracy, but could at the same time abide by the majority's decision even when it was opposed to his own ideas. He also believes that the fundamentals of democracy are inclusivity, accountability, freedom of speech and human rights as conveyed in the Constitution of South Africa.
The lessons he learnt in his fight against oppression in order to ensure that the principles of freedom would serve as the pillars of democracy, as written in our Constitution, should be our most valuable assets in the daily, wider world. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Nelson Rholihlahla Nelson Mandela, towers above all other leaders in the history of the 20th century.
He has demonstrated how wisdom and patience can triumph over biography and recourse. Madiba is fully the father of South Africans. [Time expired.]
Mr M P JACOBS
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 392
Mr P D N MALOYI
Mr M P JACOBS: Hon Chairperson, indeed it is very difficult to be the last speaker because the great speakers, who came before me, have eaten all the meat and I'm left with the bones. But I'm inviting you to my table to eat the leftovers, which are the bones.
I have structured my contribution to this debate in such a manner that I summarise everything that has been said here.
Hon Chairperson, hon Deputy Ministers, hon members of the executive councils and special delegates, let me thank my organisation for having given me this opportunity to speak and eulogise about this remarkable man - an international icon, a world statesman, a freedom fighter, a fearless warrior for social justice and a champion of our people.
Surely I feel honoured and blessed because not everyone can be given this rare opportunity to speak about Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. I hope I will be able to respond to the task given to me.
One of his grandsons said that we must forget about his granddad's sickness. But it is time to celebrate his life. This is the reason why we are here at this moment: to celebrate the times and life of this remarkable stalwart. For a moment we need to forget that he is sick and rather retrace his political career.
What have we learn from his teachings as the current crop of leadership who are holding his baton? There are few aspects of his legacy that I have learnt, which I want to share with you. My observation cannot be exhaustive, and will never be exhaustive, but we can learn from each other.
The first aspect of my observation and what I have learnt is that he has sacrificed his entire life for the emancipation of his people. He put the ANC first, above his family. He sacrificed his entire period of his life on Robben Island. How many of us could do that?
He forsook his chieftaincy and became an ordinary person to lead in his people's struggle. He put the people's interests above his personal interests. Really, he is a remarkable man.
He forsook his legal profession and denied himself the right to live a comfortable life and the glamour that goes with that profession. How many of us could follow that example? This reminds me of the wise words that were spoken by Chairman Mao, which befit the sacrifices of Madiba, I quote:
Wherever there is struggle there is sacrifice, and death is a common occurrence. But we have the interests of the people and the sufferings of the great majority at heart, and when we die for the people it is a worthy death. Nevertheless, we should do our best to avoid unnecessary sacrifices.
This is what Madiba has done. He has avoided unnecessary sacrifices and that is why he is still alive.
The second aspect of my observation of what I learnt from his legacy is that he subjected himself to the will of the collective leadership. The record speaks for itself because whatever he did or executed was part of a collective decision made with his own comrades. Even the talks about talks with the National Party was part of a collective.
Even when he was in prison he never sold out. He always sought guidance and advice from the ANC leadership in exile. He even consulted with other comrades on Robben Island on the content and the veracity of his writing in his book Long Walk to Freedom. How many of us could do that?
The third aspect of my observation that I learnt from his legacy is the art of forgiving. He forgave those who tortured and persecuted him. He was able to sit around the table and talk peace, and not war, with them. He was able to assure them that South Africa belongs to those who live in it, black or white, as it is stipulated in the Freedom Charter.
He did all these things to build unity, reconciliation and forgiveness in our country. He is known as a great reconciliatory. His presidency is known as a period of reconciliation. Even when he is on his sickbed we have seen unity among all South Africans, black and white, who have rallied behind him for speedy recovery and also wanted to be associated with his name. What a remarkable man he is.
We cannot destroy what Comrade Mandela has built; we cannot destroy his legacy; and we cannot be like other African countries where they are saying it is our time to eat. We have a responsibility to build this country for the sake of the future generations because "ngekhe siphelelwe ngamandla."[our strength will never be exhausted].
We have a responsibility to uphold his name and we may not be like him, but as his grandson, Mandla Mandela, has said, his boots are too big for everyone, but anyone can bring his own boots to fill up the gap.
It is the responsibility of every South African – and I'm appealing to members of the ANC – to learn that we must to share Mandela with every South African and the entire world because he is the people's leader.
However, we must guard against distortion of his history. The media and other political organisations want to project Mandela as if he were an ordinary South African with no attachment to the ANC and whatever he did was of his own volition. They don't want to mention that he is a member of the ANC and he will still be a member of the ANC in the next world.
We cannot distort history if Mandela is born out of the Mandela family; we cannot change that because it is factual. Similarly, Mandela is a member of the ANC, has been a leader of the ANC and nobody can change that; it is factual.
He is one of our own and we will jealously guard against any distortion of his history. But we are prepared to share him with anybody if that person is prepared to follow his teachings.
I want to conclude my contribution debate by quoting from what I said to the members of Black Caucus of the American Parliament on our recent tour to Washington. I said, and I quote:
I want to touch on the topical subject which is in the public domain, that of Mr Mandela. According to African culture a home is not a home without a granny being part of the family. We regard that person as a family compass who will always guide and give us direction.
It is against that background that, amongst our delegation, we have hon Mogoro, a veteran of our struggle, as part of us to guide and give us direction. This is the reason why we embrace and hold on to Comrade Mandela. The greatest challenge that is going to confront us is how we are going to protect and defend the legacy of Comrade Mandela. As we will be travelling this journey we will need your support again just like you did in the past.
We want to thank the Mandela family for having given us the opportunity to share their son with them. We know it has not been easy to share the beloved father and a grandfather with the whole nation because in the process they missed out on his fatherly advice and fatherly upbringing. But thank you again for having shared him with us.
Let us also thank the bearer of the womb which gave birth to this remarkable and outstanding leader of our time, an outstanding leader of human kind ...
IsiXhosa:
...siyabulela mama, siyabulela mama wesizwe, siyabulela Nosekeni[We thank you, our mother, we thank you, our mother, we thank you, our mother, Nosekeni.] Comrade Mandela ga go na ya swanang le wena [You are unique]
The MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 393
Mr M P JACOBS
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION: Hon Chairperson, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one for their contributions, the words of wisdom and refreshing thoughts.
The reflections that we've heard here today were quite inspiring, especially to the millions of those who still desire to advance the legacy of this global icon, Nelson Mandela. Today we have renewed our commitment to advance Madiba's legacy; we have reached broad consensus on what needs to be done to sharpen the focus in strengthening his legacy.
To this end, we have renewed our thoughts and have agreed on promoting what is in the best interest of our country. We should also indicate that it is important that we do not attempt to rewrite the history of South Africa and the history when it comes to Tata Madiba, and the speakers have raised that.
As a direct response to putting Helen Suzman in the context of Tata Madiba, the reality is that it was profoundly different issues. As Helen Suzman was sitting in the apartheid Parliament benches, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. So there is a fundamental contradiction there.
The second issue is that, as Tata Madiba was on the side of those who were fighting, those who were in exile as well as the freedom fighters – and we have seen so many of them here – Helen Suzman, in fact, supported the old apartheid SA Defence Force as they had gone and attacked our comrades in neighbouring states.
That is the fundamental contradiction, and therefore we do not need to try and rewrite the history of South Africa. In fact, it is best to acknowledge that history and to move forward in the context of the legacy of Madiba.
I also just want to say to an honourable old friend of mine, hon De Beer, the representative of Cope, that Madiba was also a democrat and he fundamentally believed in democracy, even in the parties, etc, and that conferences must take place. As I was listening to hon De Beer, I realised from his speech that he needs to come back home, and we hope to see him in the ANC. [Interjections.]
I think the challenge that we've heard from many a speaker was how we make sure that we build on this legacy, that we understand that this legacy indeed needs to continue to create a better future for our young people.
As we leave this platform, we can in a sense go to communities and areas and appreciate the legacy, but also make sure that we deepen the work of dealing with unemployment, inequalities, poverty, as well as creating a sense of nation-building, pride, dignity and patriotism because Madiba was and is a patriot. We require every political party to act with patriotic responsibility.
The last point, in terms of the international environment, is that it is very clear to us that wherever we go – whether it's dealing with the issues of Palestine and Israel, whether it is dealing with issues around Syria, whether it is dealing with the recent issues around Egypt and any other place – we are always being asked about how we managed the transition. How did we deal with the situation from 1990 to 1994 and what, in a sense, were the lessons that came out of that?
We can always proudly proclaim that it was indeed the collective wisdom of the leadership, led by Nelson Mandela, in that period, but also fundamentally the policies and the principles of the ANC that were able to guide us in a very difficult period.
That was one of the blessings of the South African transition; that even though there were sharp differences, we were able to talk through those differences. I can just say to the hon members that we many a time go out there and make use of that experience in trying to find peace, trying to find development and trying to create a more just, more equitable and more rational society out there globally.
Hon Chairperson, we also want to say thank you for allowing this particular debate because, indeed, it is in the blessings and the life of Madiba that we are finding courage to continue with that legacy. [Applause.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you, Deputy Minister for closing the debate.
Hon members, may I just remind you that you are advised that the parliamentary book on condolences for the late Chief Justice Pius Langa and former Deputy President of the, the late Mr Ntopile Kganyago, MP, are still available in the Queen's Hall for hon members who wish to sign it.
Ms B V MNCUBE: Where is the Queen's Hall?
IsiZulu:
USIHLALO WOMKHANDLU KAZWELONKE WEZIFUNDAZWE: Queen's Hall lana. Yinina eningafuni ukulishintsha, ngizothini mina. [Uhleko.] Lethani isiphakamiso nilishintshe.
English:
May I apologise. When we have long sessions like this, we normally give members about five minutes just to stretch, but unfortunately today we won't be able to do so because I am aware that other members have to fly home.
So you will go out, perhaps have a glass of water and come back to the House; not all of you at once, but one person at a time. Just check to see how the House is doing.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 394
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION
UNITY IN ACTION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN'S SOCIOECONOMIC FREEDOM
(Debate on National Women's Day)
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Chairperson, hon members, ladies and gentlemen-
Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so degrading, so shocking or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity, the female sex
These are the words that were spoken by Mahatma Gandhi
Every day we witness this, as it has become the norm: crimes against women and children and, even worse, against senior citizens and disabled people. It has become so common that we believe it to be normal.
I take this opportunity to extend an invitation to all South African men who had have enough and are bold enough to say, "Not in my name", to join other men on 24 August 2013, at the Johannesburg Stadium to be counted as we seek justice for women and children.
I call on men to subscribe to the Brothers for Life Manifesto that calls for all men to become a beacon of culture, of respect for women and to be positive role models for young boys and leaders in the quest to make our communities healthier and safer.
It is time for the nation to hear men say, "No women shall be raped in my name! No women shall be infected by HIV and Aids in my name! No child shall be killed in my name and no homophobic act will be committed in my name!" This is a dream we can all aspire to.
O R Tambo once said:
Women have a duty to liberate us men from antique concepts and attitudes about the place and role of women in society and the development and directions of our revolutionary struggle.
To this end, we celebrate our sister, Mmatshilo Motsei, who shone the light on the role of men as partners to fight gender-based violence, when it was not fashionable to do so. As women, we remain committed to the task.
We wish to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to the men's sector in the SA National Aids Council and those serving in the newly established National Council for Gender-Based Violence. Your understanding of men and their issues and your leadership will ensure that our department develops programmes that will take us forward, united in our diversity, to find lasting peace and coexistence in our beautiful country, South Africa.
Matthew Henry once said:
Be careful if you make a woman cry because God counts her tears. The woman came out of a man's ribs. Not from his feet to be walked on, not from his head to be superior, but from his side to be equal, under the arm to be protected, and next to the heart to be loved.
I hope all the men in the House will pass this on to all those men who are supposed to be here, but are not here.
Chairperson, an assumption was made that women can simply be mainstreamed into a polluted stream. Unfortunately, women are changing the stream, they are making it clean and green and safe for all; where every gender, race, creed, sexual orientation, age disability, urban, rural, rich and poor will thrive.
But the truth is, none of us were prepared for the response from women niether did we anticipate the tools they needed to clean the stream and create a sustainable environment through the realisation of their socioeconomic rights.
Hon members, where are we currently? The 2012 Women in Leadership Census report conducted by the Business Women's Association based on a survey of the JSE-listed companies, state-owned enterprises and some government departments shows that women in private enterprises occupied 4% of chief executive officer or managing director positions, 6% of board chair positions, 17% of directorships and 21% of executive manager positions.
The report found that women in executive management positions were more likely to be white than black, and women holding directorships were more likely to be black than white.
You can parachute women into nonexecutive director positions, however, having them as directors is not really empowering women in the workplace or alleviating inequality. They may be influential, but they don't necessarily have an impact.
It should be noted that growing women through the ranks is important. The question is: Are we collectively ready to make the required investment? So far, it is only the ANC with its policies that is providing the requisite tools to clean the stream and get us there.
To this end, we celebrate our sister, Nonkululeko Gobodo, as the first black woman chartered accountant and the founder of Gobodo Incorporated, who is now the executive chairperson of Sizwe Ntsaluba Bokodo Incorporated. It is the 5th largest accounting firm and the largest black-owned accounting firm in South Africa. She remains a transformation leader and a pioneer who champions change in the economic space. The social gains are never handed out, they are normally seized, and she did just that.
William James once said in 1810 that-
The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing their attitudes and their mindset, can change the outer aspects of their lives.
As we commemorate 100 years of the women's struggle, we take this opportunity to salute women of the past, present and future upon whose broad shoulders we stand firm. We remain committed to upholding their values, subscribing to their principles and continuing with the struggle for the full emancipation of women with a special focus on rural women and those with disabilities.
When women thrive, hon members, all of society benefits and succeeding generations are given a better start in life. So as young women of today, who are free to study, to speak, to write, to choose occupations, we should remember that every inch of this freedom was bought for us at great price. It is for us to show gratitude by helping along the reforms of our own times, by spreading the light of freedom, of the wider truth and remembering that the debt that each generation owes to the past it must be paid to the future. That we have the vote means nothing; that we use it in the right way means everything.
Hon members, we are mindful that challenges that young women face today are different from those of yesterday. The environment of today requires the acquisition of various tools to navigate the terrain.
Gender-based violence; HIV and Aids; intergenerational sex that increases teenage pregnancy, young women heading households; substance abuse; poverty; and unemployment remain among the many challenges that they are supposed to face.
Kofi Annan once said that-
There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women, and gender equality is critical to the development and peace of every nation.
As South Africans we are on for that.
Chairperson, despite many challenges women still face, we also have a lot to celebrate in comparison to the times when women were cooks and when men came along they became chefs; women were gardeners and when men came along they became farmers; women were drivers and when men came along they became chauffeurs; women were merely caregivers and nurturers, but when men did it they became medical professionals; when a women was a symbol to complement a man's status – just stand next to him and smile; and women's place was in the kitchen and men's in the boardroom.
The above reflects how women's work is devalued economically, but when men enter the same space, it becomes a commercial and economic activity.
The times have changed from when the destiny of a girl child was determined on the basis of the economic status of her family. The father and the mother would sit around the table and agree that they would educate the boy child to enable him to look after his family – after all, he is the provider.
They don't worry about the girl. She will find a rich man one day who will marry her. Just do a good job and teach her how to cook and clean. Make sure that she's well behaved and the father will collect the highest amount of magadi.
We thank the ANC-led government for creating an enabling environment, not just for some women, but for all women.
Chairperson, we take this opportunity to congratulate Madam Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi on her appointment as the vice president of the African Development Bank responsible for gender issues. She did us proud at the United Nations Development Programme and we know that she will continue to fly the flag high in Tunis.
We also congratulate Madam Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the first female deputy president of the Republic, on her appointment as the executive director of the UN Women. She stands on the shoulders of the heroines that paved the way for the realisation of women's rights as human rights.
We believe, we know and we have no doubts that she will make South Africa's women proud. We believe that each time a woman stands up for herself, possibly without knowing it and without claiming it, she stands up for all women.
As we celebrated Africa Women's Day yesterday, the connection between women's human rights, gender equality, socioeconomic development and peace in our current times became increasingly apparent, especially for the African continent.
Therefore, women's empowerment is intertwined with respect for human rights as Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma continues to show while she leads the African women.
Chairperson, hon members, as I conclude, I invite hon members to the different women's month activities. I am reminded by the words of Nelson Mandela when he said that-
For as long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persists in our world none of us can truly rest. The same applies for the emancipation of women.
[Applause.]
Mr D A WORTH
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 395
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN, YOUTH, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Mr D A WORTH: Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister, hon members and guests, the United Nation's 4th World Conference in Beijing drew up a platform of action and a resolution on the convention for the elimination of discrimination against women. However, women are still disenfranchised in many respects.
In the commercial environment, women are now represented in some of the higher echelons of power. Their numbers are still far from equalling those of men. Men still dominate leadership and decision‑making positions.
If this cycle of servitude is to be broken, it is critical for women to have access to good education. Literacy is the key to women's participation in decision-making and improving their families' wellbeing.
Illiteracy remains a challenge to achieving empowerment. Women are more likely than men to be illiterate, with 23,2% of African women and 16,7% of coloured women older than 20 years, still being functionally illiterate, according to the 2011 census.
Whilst it has been argued that unemployment isn't gender inequality, overall it is clear that unemployment in South Africa is gendered, and that women are at a higher risk of unemployment. Although women constitute half of the labour force, they only make up 21,4% of all executive managers and 17,1% of all directors across the country.
In South Africa, as is the case in Africa in general, access to land is a fundamental issue for women. Land is significant for rural women because it is a basic resource determining their living conditions, economic empowerment, and to some extent, the struggle for equity and equality within a patriarchal society.
It is agreed that without the rights to land, women's economic and physical security is compromised. Access to land for women is directly related to the important role they play in the rural economy, especially in agriculture.
In addition, rural women face the challenges of water scarcity and access to support services. According to the International Fund Coalition, women in developing countries own less than 2% of all land and receive less that 5% of all support services. Historically, land titles were registered in the name of a male household head, regardless of a women's contribution to the household.
Therefore, it is important that discrimination against women's land ownership be address because it contributes to women's low social status and vulnerability to hunger. In addition, some 5,4% of all South Africa women have a disability.
There is a need to ensure that the formal sector accommodates the needs of people with disabilities. Statistics on the level of employment of disabled women are not readily available.
Female-headed households earn significantly less than men. The average household income for a male-headed household in 2011 was R151 186 per annum, in stark contrast to the average female-headed household which earns less than half of that, namely is R70 830,00 per annum. More than half of all female-headed households earn less than R9 887 per annum.
Although the minimum wage has recently been increased, it still remains too low for many women to support their families. Economic insecurity puts women at a greater risk of violence and makes it more difficult for them to leave abusive relationships.
Some 54% of domestic-violence cases in South Africa were withdrawn by the victims because of economic dependence on the perpetrator. The economic empowerment of women is of practical importance in preventing gender-based violence and in providing women with exit options before, or if, a relationship becomes violent.
Undoubtedly we have a lot to celebrate. You only have to look at the virtual absence of women on the political scene prior to 1994, and the vibrant presence of women around us now, to confirm the change. Women have been fundamental in changing laws, which now take notice of the plight of women.
A range of grants to help the needy such as pensions, child grants, foster grants, disability grants and other grants now exist. Whilst these are welcome, they do not eradicate the need for a decent income from a real job, which gives dignity and eliminates dependence.
Without money, women are dependent on handouts. Without social standing, women are subject to all manners of abuse. When women are abused, their children suffer and the whole brutal cycle is reconstructed.
It is true that we have come a long way, and I pay homage to the courageous women who have sacrificed their time, sometimes their families and even their lives, to bring us to where we are today.
Women's economic empowerment does not only affect women, it profoundly changes the economy and society. It gives women access to good health and helps them to take care of their families and avoid hunger. It also builds women's confidence and ensures that young women are able to look up to female business leaders, particularly those in civil society and those in office.
However, much still remains to be done, and the struggle is not over. They say, you strike a woman, you strike a rock. Aluta continua! [The struggle continues!]
Mrs N W MAGADLA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 396
Mr D A WORTH
Mrs N W MAGADLA: Hon House Chairperson, hon permanent and special delegates of the NCOP, hon Deputy Minister, Salga councillor and distinguished guests, I'm very happy to participate in this debate which takes place within the context of the theme, Unity in Action for the Advancement of Women's Socioeconomic Freedom.
The theme is informed by this year's celebration of the of the 57th anniversary of the women's antipass march to the Unions Building in 1956, which led to the month of August being declared the National Women's Month in our democracy.
This theme will play a critical role in guiding the proceedings of this debate to take centre stage and will, further, set the tone for reflection on the advancement of women in matters of socioeconomic freedom.
The celebration Women's Day remains a critical and significant event in the political history of our country because it is reserved for the celebration and commemoration of the struggles of women for a nonracial and nonsexist democratic South Africa.
When acknowledging the importance of Woman's Day, the first democratically elected President of the republic, Tata Nelson Mandela, once said, and I quote:
We have declared 9 August a national holiday. This is in celebration of the struggles of the women over the decades and a rejuvenation of our commitment to strive for a society free of all kinds of discrimination, more especially discrimination against women.
The sacrifices that were made by women before and after the formation of the ANC, particularly in 1956, have provided us with the direction to talk about the role of women in the new dispensation; and it is for these reasons that women can today boldly say, "Nothing about women without women." "You strike a woman, you strike a rock". [Wathint'abafazi, wathint'imbokodo!]
To take this further, it is befitting and appropriate in this debate to acknowledge the important developments in relation to the role of women generally in our country, including the United Nations declaration of the period of 2010 to 2020 as the decade for women.
As we celebrate Women's Day, we also celebrate the achievements and the ascendency to power of the following women: Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who was in 2012 appointed as the first African woman chairperson of the AU Commission; Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was recently appointed as the head of the UN gender equality body, a body for the empowerment of women; Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi and others.
We are very proud of the achievements of these women in making South Africa a better country, and we hope that they will represent us well.
Today's women are faced with a different type of struggle, a struggle against poverty. This new form of oppression is more dangerous because of its socioeconomic nature. As we understand that South Africa is faced with challenges of being an unequal society, and having observed that women are at the lowest paid levels of employment and that wage gaps are widening, we must continue to create an enabling environment for women by negotiating processes and providing training and support.
It is clear, therefore, that to encourage the women of South Africa to play an equal role in the economic and social structures of their country, our ANC-led government should create an economy based on the will of the people and a social order in which women are able to participate fully; no other government can do that, except the ANC.
This emancipation must mean that ordinary women should be freed from their daily difficult tasks. This emancipation must mean that we should make the necessary progress with arming women with education, skills and information, so that they can meaningfully participate in the economy and social development opportunities that are available in our country.
In order to achieve the unity in action for the advancement of women's socioeconomic freedom, we must support our government in its efforts to achieve the following objectives, which are meant to enhance the socioeconomic freedom of women.
Women must be empowered through human resource training and have adequate access to finance and financial institutions. They must be assisted with changing their conditions in order to move out of the second economy. Women must also be assisted to participate in agriculture, creative industries and Extended Public Works Programmes. More opportunities should be created for women to enter the mainstream economy, and this includes the banking sector investing more in women-led initiatives.
We are also concerned about the continued exclusion and underrepresentation of women at executive level of many corporate companies. We are also aware that the employment report, which revealed that transformation in the workplace, particularly in the private sector, was slow and this is a cause for concern. Women in poor and rural communities have to be reached in order for them to participate meaningfully in various economic opportunities that will empower them.
We will not enjoy the fruits of the aspirations of women activists like Sophie De Bryn, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Charlotte Maxeke, Lilian Ngoyi, Ellen Khuzwayo and many others, if women in rural and poor communities do not benefit from this empowerment. Our Parliament should continue to champion women empowerment, gender equality and poverty reduction as the main ingredients of any development strategy.
This should further remind us of a famous phrase: You educate a woman, you educate a nation, and this could be qualified by what Charlotte Maxeke said one day, and I quote:
This work is not for yourselves - kill that spirit of self, and do not live above your people, but live with them. If you can rise, bring someone with you.
I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON: COMMITTEES AND OVERSIGHT (Mr R J Tau): Thank you, hon Magadla. I appreciate it that you reminded me of something about which I wanted to caution hon Worth.
He made reference to me as Deputy Chairperson and I asked myself: When was I elected as the Deputy Chairperson of the Council? For the record, it must be said that I was never elected the Deputy Chair of the Council. [Laughter.]
Mr J J GUNDA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 397
Mrs N W MAGADLA
Mr J J GUNDA: Hon House Chair, hon Deputy Minister, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, indeed, when we talk about "Unity in Action for the Advancement of Women's Socioeconomic Freedom", I believe that all of us here today, are here because of mothers and we need to respect and honour that.
The first thing I would like to say is that women should not need to beg for assistance; we need to give it to them freely because they have given us life freely, through the grace of God. [Applause.]
The majority of poor people in South Arica are in the rural areas. I believe that – and I will keep on saying this – when it comes to developing our people and empowering them economically, we must give them the money, assistance, administrative support and training they need because our mothers were never lazy to work. They brought us up, without money.
Today we have this opportunity to empower them and if you empower the women of the rural areas, they in turn will empower other people. It is only women who can look after women and other people. It is our mothers who looked after us. We are here today and we are educated today because our mothers empowered us through their sacrifices.
We keep on talking about men. Men, men, men! I am man ... [Interjections.] ... but women played a very important role in this struggle that we still have today. This Women's Month, we are standing here because of women.
This also goes for Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. If it were not for his mother and his wife, if it were not for Albertina Sisulu, Adelaide Tambo, Lillian Ngoyi and all those women, we wouldn't be here today. [Applause.]
So all I would like to say is that this is very important and I would like to close by saying, indeed, we can win and evaluate ...
Mr K A SINCLAIR: Chairperson, on a point of order: I would like to ask hon Gunda whether he would like to join the women's league. [Laughter.]
Mrs N W MAGADLA (HOUSE CHAIRPERSON: COMMITTEES): You may continue, hon Gunda.
Mr J J GUNDA: No, hon Chair, let me just answer my colleague. I don't want to join the women's league because the women's league is part of me. [Interjections.] The women's league is part of me!
Mrs N W MAGADLA (HOUSE CHAIRPERSON: COMMITTEES): Don't respond to them.
Mr J J GUNDA: So all I would like to say is that it is time that we really assisted our people in the rural areas. It is time that we take development to the rural areas and spend money on our people. That money will be well-spent because tomorrow the government will look back and say they were part of the upliftment of those people. They are going to build and grow the economy for tomorrow. We need to help our people, assist, train and educate them. [Applause.]
Ms H E MATEME (Limpopo)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 398
Mr J J GUNDA
Mrs H E MATEME: LIMPOPO CHAIRPERSON: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL AND TOURISM: Hon Chairperson, Madam Deputy Minister, all protocol observed; it is indeed a great day today for us to be debating on the national Women's Day, 100 years after Charlotte Maxeke led one of the biggest marches, protesting against women's oppression.
The Bible tells us that the people, who were the first to find out that Christ had risen, were women. I thought it would have been even more orderly to start this debate with thunderous applause to celebrate the women of this country, and particularly, the green blouse. Symbolically, a green blouse is presiding while I am taking the podium. [Applause.]
Chairperson, I am saying this because I think Mr Kotze of Modimolle, formerly Nylstroom, and the likes of him, today understand very, very well what women mean when they say: You strike a woman, you strike a rock. We need to celebrate the women in green because through this case they have demonstrated that the ruling party does not lead only its members, the ruling party leads society. [Applause.]
The Kotze case, Chairperson, demonstrates what we mean when we say "non-racial". The victim was a white woman, but the green blouse was there from the beginning of the court case to the end, and justice was served. That case also demonstrates what "nonsexism" means. It also demonstrates what we mean when we say, "All shall be equal before the law".
We could not have decided on a better theme during a decade dubbed the Decade of Women by the African Union. Some fundis argue that - you have already said so, my leader – when you educate a woman, you educate a nation. This view can be extended to all aspects of life. In my language and culture …
Sepedi:
... re re lapa ke la mosadi. Lapa ke la mosadi...
English:
... means it's only a woman who can convert a house into a home.
The economic liberation of women will certainly lead to the economic liberation of the nation. This view however, must be interpreted in line with Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the country, our Bill of Rights.
For women a lack of economic independence leads to social bondage. Some women stay in abusive relationships simply because they depend on the abusers for their livelihood. Therefore, socioeconomic freedom for women depends on their ability to participate meaningfully in the economic activities of the country.
From time immemorial, however, women have been tilling the soil, producing food for their families. These activities should be modernised, accelerated, funded and closely monitored. Research has shown that for each job created by mining, agriculture creates eight.
Mining comes to an end, but agriculture is forever. We, therefore, propose that whilst the issues of land ownerships are being attended to, let the focus be on the question of land use so that women are enabled to continue producing food for their own families. That, to an extent, will assist in breaking the cycle of poverty.
The last lekgotla of the ruling party unanimously agreed that from then onwards, turf protection amongst Ministers would be history. I may be revealing secrets here, but this is a fact. The ruling party listens when communities talk, it listens even when the opposition benches talk. Therefore, we did go into a session for introspection and found the next trajectory for how we are going to lead the people of this country.
How far have we come to date? On the education front, the 2010 Country Report on the Millennium Development Goals, as well as our matric results of the last three years indicates, that the girl child is emerging as being capable in her own right. We will remember that the top learner in 2012 was a black African girl. Coincidentally, she comes from the street in which I live. It is just coincidence!
The other day I also listened to the Minister of Public Enterprises addressing the youth in the studio. One of the first questions directed to him was by a young woman. It was not lamentation, it was not an insult, but the essence of the question was: How can we contribute as the youth of this country?
The same MDG report indicates that literacy amongst women is also improving. On violence against women and children, the same country report argues that elimination of violence is a prerequisite for gender equality and empowerment of women.
The report further argues that follow-ups by mothers and fathers on the school and extracurricular activities of their children reinforce family ties, favour socialisation at home and reduce the risk of violence and aggression in the streets.
However, I think the report is missing the fact that a large number of families in communities in our country are child-headed and women-headed households, and we have learners who are living with their grandparents and their great-grandparents. The noble idea of making follow-ups and helping them with homework and extramural activities in those settings is not possible. Therefore, it makes it very, very difficult, if not impossible, to break the cycle of poverty.
For this sector, a thorough and consistent monitoring of the vertical programmes of this people's government is of utmost importance. What I am alluding to is that we need a monitoring mechanism to make sure that the child support grant is used for just that and not for the saloons and other things.
Community-based organisations should be at hand and there should also be good neighbourliness. We should dub every child "my child".
As per the resolution of the ruling party's lekgotla I alluded to, all departments need to support the implementation issues, as identified in the MDG country report, which the Ministry of Women, Children and People with Disabilities is currently addressing.
Firstly, for example, the Ministry is proactively addressing the unintended consequences of progressive legislation; secondly, strengthening regulatory framework, which is already in place; thirdly, providing effective and sufficient budgets to support the implementation of gender equitable processes; fourthly, aligning - this is critical - constitutional protection of religious and cultural practices with the secular rights held by women and girls; and lastly, working with a broad range of community and interest groups to address all impediments to women's empowerment and gender equality.
A child asked the parent, "How can I become a great person?" and the parent answered, "By doing simple things in a great way." [Interjections.] I am aware time is running out and I am summarising.
We would like to urge those who have reached the heights of the economic activities of the country to continue to lift others as they rise. In my language we say ...
Sepedi:
... kgomo go tsošwa yeo e itsošago.
English:
We also need to heed voices of some of the great South African women. The hon Dlamini-Zuma, Chair of the African Union Commission says that we have what it takes. The Deputy Minister, Elizabeth Thabethe, says and I quote: More importantly, we need an economic development for ... [Interjections.]
In conclusion, to invest in women is not only the right thing to do but it is the smart thing to do. Socioeconomic freedom for women in our lifetime! [Time Expired.]
Mr T L MAKUNYANE
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 399
Mrs H E MATEME (LIMPOPO CHAIRPERSON-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL & TOURISM)
Mr T L MAKUNYANE: Hon Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister, special delegates, colleagues, comrades and compatriots, it is a singular honour to participate in this debate to mark the 57th anniversary of the 1956 march by women to the Union Buildings.
It is time again to remind ourselves that our liberation will never be complete unless it involves the total emancipation of women from the shackles of patriarchy, class exploitation and national oppression.
We also have to remind ourselves that the position women occupy today was not handed to them on a silver platter. They earned it, they struggled for it and sacrificed for it. Throughout the colonial and apartheid era, the migrant labour system marginalised women. The system was designed to depress wages by separating workers from their families. Women were forced to remain in rural hinterlands and they and their families had to subsist on the land in the overcrowded and undeveloped Bantustans, which were characterised by malnutrition and disease.
These women, who were enslaved by the system, they had to spend eight to 10 hours a day gathering water and firewood, cooking, looking after children and the sick and washing up, without having any time to do anything else.
Those who managed to break out of this system and travel to urban centres were regarded by the regime as superfluous people with no prospect of getting housing legally. They were forced to live in backyard shacks and in squatter camps. They were insecure and because their presence was illegal, they faced pass raids, bulldozers and forced removals.
Hon Chairperson, their insecurity made them the ideal source of cheap labour. They could be paid lower wages and lose their jobs if they became pregnant. They were also abused sexually at work and by the police. Throughout all of this, they also faced hostile and negative attitudes from their male colleagues who regarded them as belonging to the kitchen and not in the trade union movement.
Thus women experienced the worst of the poverty and deprivations caused by apartheid – its brutal and rigid control of people's lives – even more harshly because they were women. It is out of this realisation that our movement came to the conclusion that the struggle for women's emancipation had to be waged on three fronts: against national oppression as black people; against capitalist exploitation as part of the working class; and against patriarchy as women.
Our movement in the course of its evolution came to define the emancipation of women as an inherent, inalienable and defining feature of our struggle for national liberation for a united, nonracial, nonsexist and democratic South Africa.
Throughout the 20th century, side by side with the struggles against dispossession, political and social exclusion, women also waged their own struggles against acute shortages of housing and food, against passes, rent, bus fare hikes, inflation and war.
The names of Charlotte Maxeke, Dora Tamane, Josie Mpama, Ray Alexander, Rahima Ally, Hilda Bernstein, Lilian Ngoyi, Ida Mntwana, Sophie de Bruyn Mama Lydia Komape, and many others, stand out like shining beacons in the long history of our struggle.
The women of our country led the struggle for housing in Soweto in the 1940s. They led the bus boycotts in Alexander and other townships. They fearlessly joined in the defiance campaign and the struggles against Bantu Education. They fought courageously against the introduction of passes for women and enthusiastically joined in the campaign for the Congress of the People that culminated in the adoption of the Freedom Charter in 1955.
The 1956 march to the Union Buildings was a way to challenge the illegitimate and increasingly discredited apartheid regime. Women never sat back when their menfolk were charged with treason. It is an echo of the patriarchal attitude that still prevails amongst us that the history of women's struggles is not told in its full detail, but as a subtopic or as a footnote.
It was a reflection of these attitudes to women that even the ANC did not accept women as full members. It was only at the 1943 national conference of the ANC that women were granted full membership.
Organisations like the Native and Coloured Women's Association, the Bantu Women's League, the women's section of the ANC and the Federation of South African Women are as much a part of our illustrious history as the more prominent historical figures.
Today, despite all the gains and as women stand shoulder to shoulder with their menfolk in all the corridors of power, we must never forget that the struggle against patriarchy continues. In the words of the Women's Charter as adopted by the Federation of South African Women in 1954:
We must recognise that women are treated as minors by ... marriage and property laws because of ancient and revered traditions and customs which had their origin in the antiquity of the people and no doubt served purposes of great value in bygone times. Those conditions have gone.
However, those antiquated and backward ideas still endure. It is our duty as men and women to fight to transform these ideas. We must unite in action for the advancement of women's socioeconomic freedom. [Applause.]
Mr D B FELDMAN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 400
Mr T L MAKUNYANE
Mr D B FELDMAN: Hon Chairperson, hon members and hon Deputy Minister, Cope firmly believes that Parliament should keep the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995, in sharp focus.
One year after our democratic government came into existence the first nonracial women delegation flew to China to blaze a trail of gender mainstreaming and the advancement of women's socioeconomic freedom.
The Beijing Platform for Action had come into existence. Words are beautiful, but action is what unlocks the door to economic freedom and social upliftment.
Words without action tease us; words leading to action vindicate us. We need to be vindicated in respect of the advancement of women in our country. Every year we look for complete action and outcomes that we can talk of and pat ourselves on the back. In reality, we only continue talking.
Ideally we should be reflecting on an audit of what we achieved between last year's marking the national Women's Day and this year's observations of this important event on our national calendar. Such an audit would evaluate our commitment and sincerity. Saying something to feel good is not the same as doing something and feeling good. Many members may believe that this is a new topic. Regrettably it's not so.
Twelve years ago in July 2001, the Economic and Social Council of the UNO, ECOSOC, Resolution 2001/41 adopted a resolution on gender mainstreaming which required a five-year of review of its implementation to assess whether economic freedom and social upliftment for women had occurred. Economic freedom and social upliftment for women are both equally essential for economic growth, peace and stability.
The inclusion of women as a target group in major planning processes in the National Development Plan and departmental budgeting, for example, must constitute our joint and unrelenting demand.
Ecosoc has repeatedly recognised planning as being fundamental to the accommodation of women's concerns for education, training and economic opportunities. Planning is also an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political and economic spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated.
Let us resolve here that the NDP and all government budget plans take on board the need to emancipate women economically and allow them to earn such social standing as is necessary for economic empowerment. Henceforth women would then be viewed as the equals of men and worthy of all the independence and respect that my gender has unfairly had since the beginning of time.
Cope stands for action and clear outcomes that can be ticked off in respect of the achievement of women's socioeconomic freedom in our democratic South Africa.
CLLR F MABOA-BOLTMAN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 401
Mr D B FELDMAN
Cllr F MABOA-BOLTMAN (Salga): Chairperson, I had thought that somebody would sing, "Malibongwe ma", but it did not happen. [Laughter.]
It is a great honour and privilege for Salga to be here again and participate in these women's issues. South Africa has made commitments through the Constitution and various pieces of legislation, including international conventions, to respect, promote, protect and advance the rights of women.
Furthermore, many international commitments support women's economic empowerment, including the Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and a series of International Labour Organisation conventions on gender equality. Therefore we have a duty and obligation to honour these commitments as a country.
As Salga, we are proud to be part of a country that has some of the most progressive policies that are aimed at advancing women's empowerment and gender equality. However, the translation of theory into practice and of policies into implementation has presented specific challenges. These challenges have hindered progress and implementation of policies, in particular the entrenchment of women's rights and the economic empowerment mechanisms that will ensure gender equality.
To this end, we have undertaken to institutionalise our advocacy processes through the formation of the Salga Women's Commission, SWC. In noting the reversal of the 50/50 gains, Salga has made a commitment to overcome challenges faced by local government through strengthening the intergovernmental relations processes and fostering unity for the advancement of women's empowerment.
While significant strides have been made to empower women and promote gender equality, women still bear an uneven burden of the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. Women continue to be marginalised and discriminated against, in terms of economic opportunities and the labour market.
Even though women have made real gains, we are constantly reminded as to how far we have to go to realise equality between men and women, which is a problem.
World leaders have recognised the pervasiveness of discrimination and violence against women and girls; and, of course, I think we are leaving our girls behind and they are vulnerable. If one thinks of human trafficking, our girls are seen to be the ones who are being used. I think we must have a strategy or framework that will talk in those terms.
When they signed the visionary millennium declaration in the year 2000, that world conference looked into this, and I think it will work. All women must stand up and speak against abuse and we need to be seen as a gender that is recognised in South Africa.
The eight Millennium Development Goals included a goal to promote gender equality and women's empowerment at that world leaders' conference. These goals are set to expire in 2015, and we are now in a race to achieve them. We are also in the midst of a global conversation about what should replace those goals that we set, because if we look in terms of this year and the next, we do not have enough time. I am aware that we have advanced and have achieved a lot, but there is still much to be done.
In the new post-2015 development agenda we must build on the achievements of the MDGs while avoiding their shortcomings. The discussions to shape the post-2015 global developmental agenda offer a real opportunity to drive lasting change for women's rights and equality.
To invest in women's economic empowerment sets us on a direct path toward gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth. Women make enormous contributions to economies, whether in businesses, on farms, as entrepreneurs and employees or by doing unpaid care work at home. But they also remain disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination and exploitation.
Gender discrimination means women often end up in insecure, low-wage jobs, and constitute a small minority of those in senior positions. It limits participation in shaping economic and social policies. It restrains access to economic assets such as land and loans. And because women perform the bulk of household work, they often have little time left to pursue economic opportunities.
One critical area of focus involves advocacy to measure women's unpaid care work, and to take action so that women and men can more readily combine it with paid employment.
Microeconomic and social policies are crucial instruments guiding the achievement of women's empowerment and gender equality. Given the wide gap between women's and men's in access to jobs and other economic assets, policies deliberately crafted to closing these gaps, stand a far greater chance of improving women's lives and advancing gender equality.
The SA National Development Plan, 2030, released in 2011, stresses the vital importance of partnership and active citizen participation in all aspects of governance, especially in processes driven by local government.
It is the duty of the state to create an enabling environment for engagement, and the responsibility of active and organised citizens to hold government accountable through active participation. If we do not participate actively that will never be realised. Even if we do point a finger at government and the like, it is we, as women, who must push and get support from our counterparts.
The theme: Unity in Action for the Advancement of Women's Socioeconomic Freedom, highlights the need for co-ordination and collaboration of efforts amongst all stakeholders, that is, government departments, civil society organisations and the private sector. It moves the discourse beyond issues of representation into a more sustainable and dynamic terrain which places the socioeconomic advancement of women as an essential ingredient for development.
Now, together, we have a responsibility to ensure that the struggles and sacrifices of the millions of women on this continent are not in vain. Malibongwe! [Applause.]
Ms B V MNCUBE
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 402
Cllr F MABOA-BOLTMAN (Salga)
Ms B V MNCUBE: Hon Chairperson, it is humbling to deliver this speech on the very first day of South Africa's historic Women's Month, just a few days before National Women's Day. It is a day that is of great historical value to all of us as we continue to pursue our goal of a united, nonracist, nonsexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa, which takes pride in the values enshrined in our Constitution.
When the women of South Africa converged at the Union Buildings 57 years ago, from every corner of South Africa, they created one of the enduring landmarks in our country's history. They declared that the women would insist on their role in making history. They vowed to a stubborn oppressor that they would resist and fight for liberation.
In the near future, at various venues, we will be assembled to affirm the wisdom and farsightedness of those who declared:
IsiZulu:
Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo; bhasobha uzokufa!
English:
Ladies and gentlemen, we are in a season of milestones. We look back over these 57 years and celebrate the historic and courageous march of women to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956; the 58 years since the adoption of that epochal human rights document, the Freedom Charter, at Kliptown on June 26, 1955; and the 59 years since women adopted the Women's Charter on 17 April 1954.
Yet we can acknowledge at this point that in the closing of its second decade, the democratic South Africa has marked out significant milestones towards improving the status of women. For this we congratulate the women of South Africa in government, in business, in trade unions, in community structures, in religious bodies, in women's organisations and elsewhere.
As we commemorate this day, 19 years into a society based on the principles of equality and justice, we must reflect on the gains we have made together and the challenges that still remain as we continue to work for the building of an equal and nonsexist society. This is a period, not only for celebration, but for renewed commitment and reflection among all our citizens – both women and men.
We need to look back at our history and assess our achievements in the context of where we come from, while at the same time looking ahead.
The legacy of oppression weighs heavily on women. As long as women are bound by poverty and as long as they are looked down upon, human rights will lack substance. As long as outmoded ways of thinking prevent women from making a meaningful contribution to society, progress will be slow. As long as the nation refuses to acknowledge the equal role of more than half of itself, it is doomed to failure.
In the first state of the nation address on 24 May 1994 that President Nelson Mandela delivered, he evoked the memory of Ingrid Jonker and said:
In the midst of despair, she celebrated hope. Confronted with death, she asserted the beauty of life. In the dark days when all seemed hopeless in our country, when many refused to hear her resonant voice, she took her own life. To her and others like her, we owe a debt to life itself. To her and others like her, we owe a commitment to the poor, the oppressed, the wretched and the despised.
This portrays the unavoidable, irresistible, central and important role of women in a cause for nation-building.
IsiZulu:
Mhlonishwa, ngivumele ngibonge la maqhawekazi omzabalazo alandelayo: Elizabeth Mafikeng, Getrude Shope, Ruth Mompati, Mitta Seperepere, Greta Ncaphayi, Bertha Mkhize, Lillian Ngoyi, Albertina Sisulu, Helen Joseph, Ida Mtwana, Sophie DeBruyn, Phyllis Naidoo, Violet Weinberg, Ray Alexander, Francis Baard, Dr Goonam Naidoo, Hilda Bernstein, Adelaide Tambo, Amina Cachalia, Epainette Mbeki, Annie Silinga, Winnifred Mangoane-Nkobi, Tiny Nokwe, Regina Nzo, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Dora Tamana, Victoria Mxenge, Dorothy Nyembe, nami ngingazikhohlwa nani futhi ngokunjalo. [Ihlombe.]
English:
As we salute our past heroines and heroes in the struggle for gender equality, let us not forget our future. We need to ensure that our children, both boys and girls, know that equality also means equality between men and women.
As we remember countless other women, at all levels of society who endured imposed servility for decades and centuries, we also remember those who sacrificed in order to ensure that women enjoy the rights they do today. We also use this occasion to celebrate the advances that have been made by our country since 1994, with regard to gender transformation, while also taking note of the challenges that remain.
Through you, hon Chairperson, to the hon Worth: South Africa's approach in addressing violence against women and children is multifaceted and integrated. Success indicators, in this regard, include, among other things, increased national awareness and condemnation of violence against women by all of us. Government has put the legislative framework in place to deal with this scourge.
In terms of the law reform process dealing with gender-based violence, decisive statutory interventions such as the Domestic Violence Act and Maintenance Act, as well as the introduction of minimum sentences for serious crimes in the criminal justice sector, have since been made.
Campaigns led by different departments and Ministries have been rolled out throughout South Africa. Therefore, I urge all of us, as members, to intensify the oversight role to ensure that the laws that we have put in place are implemented and that they do protect women.
The last decade has seen increased involvement of women at all levels of decision-making related to armed conflict. This has included women's participation in peace negotiations in war-torn parts of the African continent and in facilitating dialogue. We have experienced, with a great deal of pride, greater women's deployment to participate at operational levels in the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions and African Union sponsored Peacekeeping Missions.
South Africa has established an extensive network of interrelated institutions that have been established to facilitate gender transformation, including gender mainstreaming at all levels of governance. These include, to mention a few, the Independent Commission on Gender Equality, the Office of the Status of Women, etc.
What is of importance is that we have already surpassed the initial target of 30% representation of women in decision-making structures called for in the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development. We see this improvement in gender representation in government institutions, not just to make up the numbers, but as a deliberate act of gender empowerment informed by the historic imperative of creating a truly representative, democratic and equal society.
It was emphasised by President Thabo Mbeki in his statement during 2004 in appointing women into the South African government that-
No government in South Africa could ever claim to represent the will of the people if it fails to address the central task of emancipation of women in all its elements, and that includes the government we are privileged to lead.
Because of this and also its democratic nature, government over the years has worked hard to ensure that both the laws that are enacted as well as our expenditure patterns empower women and promote gender equity.
Issues pertaining to and affecting the lives of women have to be integrated into the comprehensive intersectoral strategies that seek to defeat poverty and underdevelopment, hence mainstreaming the objective of gender equality. As part of ensuring gender equality, priority is given to women in terms of services and economic opportunities provided by government.
Women are now reaping the benefits of their selfless struggle and stand tall as equal partners to their other counterparts in a democracy that has entrenched their status.
The ANC government is now working to ensure that this is increased to 50% - an issue accepted without controversy by the ANC conferences and national general councils. Clearly this indicates that this is an idea whose time has come.
I, therefore, challenge other political parties – hon Worth from the DA and hon Feldman from Cope - to ensure that women are adequately represented amongst the ranks of their public representatives. The same challenge also goes to the private sector. Whilst government has done much to meet these targets, the private sector also needs to play its part. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN, YOUTH, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 403
Ms B V MNCUBE
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN, YOUTH, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Chairperson, allow me to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks and gratitude on behalf of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities to all distinguished members who participated in this debate. Once again, we have confirmed for ourselves the importance and value of empowering women. We have also agreed on the number of solutions and institutions we could establish to do this.
Hon members, allow me also to confirm that 50:50 representation is a reality. It is on its way and it is no longer a figment of anybody's imagination. This is because the department is finalising the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill which will be adopted by Cabinet very soon. It has gone through the National Economic Development and Labour Council, Nedlac, and it is here. So, if you are not sure whether 50/50 representation is coming, allow me to take the opportunity to confirm that it is on its way. Let us prepare for it because women have earned it, worked hard, and indeed, arrived.
This debate also confirmed our position, and I wish to express my sincere thanks to the leadership of the NCOP for ensuring that women were not going to speak to themselves, but that there were enough men in this debate to take responsibility and also make this confirmation.
In our department we always say that our work can never be completed unless men are our partners. Even if you can empower women, if the home is not secure enough for her to enjoy that freedom, there will be comments such as: "The ANC made you a Deputy Minister. In my house ...
Setswana:
... o bo tlogele kwa kgorong, o tla bo tsaya kamoso phakela fa o ya kwa tirong ya ANC.
English:
" … you will be the cleaner, cook and all the other things." So, we thank and always appreciate progressive men who are willing to lead the struggle for women.
We have also confirmed access to education as a very important instrument for women to fight poverty. However, it is not just an instrument to fight poverty, we are also giving assistance to ensure that women also access the very processes and male-dominated careers that women would not necessarily do. We celebrate our young women who are being courageous in the endeavour of ensuring that they go where women have never gone before.
When I talk to my husband, I always say that men of equality are not afraid of equity. As we look forward to celebrating Women's Month, in Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga – and also the many other activities that will affirm and highlight the struggles, celebrations, importance, values as well as everything else that women contribute to our lives as mothers, aunts and sisters – I hope that you will be taking the time to participate in any of these in the hope that your contribution will never be forgotten.
As we do all of these things, let us all strive, once again, to ensure that our young girls are able to reach their potential. We can only do that by ensuring that we keep girls in school. To keep girls in schools also means keeping older men away from them. We are calling on men to please assist us as intergenerational sex is becoming an epidemic. Our young girls under the age of 15 years are becoming mother-children to men over the age of 30 years. We ask for your help, as the department, because it is one of the things that will make all of the aspirations and the dreams that women fought so hard for fade away.
We also ask you to join us as we roll out the Zazi campaign - and I believe you might have seen some of the advertisements for it - where we encourage young girls to know their strength, know themselves; and dig deep into this when all else fails.
I wish all the members a very happy Women's Day and call upon all the men to join the men's march on 24 August because it is a very important march. We thank the leadership for the opportunity that has been granted to the department, and we wish all the ladies, both in and out of the House, and the rest of South Africa, a happy Women's Month. [Applause.]
Debate Concluded.
TEMPORARY CHAIRPERSON (Mr F ADAMS)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 1 August 2013 Take: 403
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN, YOUTH, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
LOCAL GOVERNMENT WEEK
(Announcement)
TEMPORARY CHAIRPERSON (Mr F ADAMS): Hon members, before I adjourn the Council, I wish to remind you that the Local Government Week will be taking place on 6 and 7 August 2013 in the Old Assembly Chamber. All hon members of the NCOP have been invited to attend that Local Government Week.
The Council adjourned at 18:19.
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