Speaker, on behalf of the Chief Whip of the Majority Party, I move:
That the House -
1) notes with great sadness the tragic death of former African National Congress member Mr David Dlali on Monday, 11 June 2012 at the age of 52;
2) further notes that Mr Dlali was a Member of Parliament from 2001 until 2009, representing his constituency in the Gugulethu township and serving on various portfolio committees which included provincial and local government, minerals and energy, and defence;
3) remembers that after the 2009 national elections, Mr Dlali joined the Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities as Special Adviser to the Minister;
4) further remembers that Mr Dlali was a long standing member of the ANC and a former uMkhonto weSizwe underground operative;
5) recalls that he served in various capacities within the ANC including as a member of the provincial executive committee in the Western Cape and as Chairman of the Dullah Omar region;
6) further recalls that he was a talented, diligent cadre and a remarkable strategist;
7) believes that Mr Dlali was a hardworking and committed servant of the people;
8) acknowledges his dedication and courage which he proved in true selfless service to his people and the country; and
9) extends its heartfelt condolences to the family of Mr Dlali, friends, colleagues and members of the African National Congress.
Hon members, before we proceed with today's business, I wish to announce the presence of the Dlali family in the public gallery. Namkelekile. [You are welcome.] [Applause.]
Hon Speaker and hon members, I was shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic and untimely death of former ANC Member of Parliament David M Dlali when I heard the news on Monday morning. I see his smiling face before me now. He was always courteous, friendly, cheerful and approachable. He was also a positive person who left one smiling and feeling cheerful too after having chatted to him, however briefly.
Our paths first crossed when he served in the Cape Metropolitan Council, CMC, and I, as a proportional representative councillor, was working in Mfuleni, Khayelitsha and the Tygerberg area. Later, we both served as councillors in the City of Cape Town, where he represented Gugulethu. He was a hardworking, committed councillor who was determined to improve the lot of the people he represented.
He served as the public liaison officer, PLO, on the Independent Electoral Commission, IEC, for many years and played a positive and responsible role.
Our paths crossed again when we both moved up to Parliament. He served on various committees, including local government, minerals, energy and defence.
David suffered an injury in a motor car accident and for a while his walking was impaired. I too was suffering after surgery, and we would sometimes stop and commiserate with one another, but we always parted on a cheerful note.
David Dlali also made a positive contribution when he served on the board of trustees of the Parliamentary Medical Aid Scheme, Parmed, initially as a full member whilst in Parliament, and subsequently as a continuity member while serving as an advisor to the Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Lulu Xingwana. As a Parmed trustee, he served on a number of ad hoc committees, and he always served with diligence and integrity. His contribution in the interests of the members was unfailing. His calm approach and demeanour enabled him to influence and ensure fairness but, above all, he made sure that what was best for the scheme and its beneficiaries prevailed.
He acquired a farm in Matatiele some time ago and over the years developed a good relationship with his neighbour, Peter Muir, who was a DA councillor in the Matatiele Local Municipality. Together, as neighbours, they solved numerous problems associated with farming in that difficult area where stock theft and criminal activities were rife. He was a hardworking, progressive farmer, who was improving his farm and preparing it for his retirement. Sadly, his life was cut short before he could realise his dream. His tragic death is a loss, not only to his family and the ANC, but to the whole farming community, where he could have continued to make a difference through his positive approach. On behalf of the DA, I would like to extend our sincere condolences to his family, the ANC and to all who were close to him. Hamba kakuhle, mhlobo wam. [Farewell, my friend.] May your soul rest in peace. [Applause.]
Hon Speaker and hon members, I rise in this debate on the motion of condolence for the late Comrade David Dlali to express our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Comrade Dlali, and to his big family, the ANC. We wish to express our heartfelt sympathy. We received the news of his passing with sadness.
Comrade Dlali was a working-class leader, who had working-class interests at heart, and who at all times worked for this cause. As has been said about him, he was there during the struggle for freedom, and during the peace protests by South Africans before the 1994 democratic breakthrough. He was there during the struggle to form strong Cosatu affiliates that would fight for the restoration of the rights of the workers, and he was there during the 1998 labour relations battles, as you will remember. He was a key fighter to defend the workers' rights with his paralegal skills. He was there when South Africans were marching and calling for the unbanning of political parties and political organisations. We know that he made an immense contribution in the field of local government elections, where he fought, as always, for the underdogs, the downtrodden and the poor people. As Cope, we are truly saddened by his sudden and terrible passing on, which will go down as murder. We wish the perpetrator of this crime could have known who he was and what contribution he made to our life today. The police must obviously do what needs to be done.
I would like to end with a poem by Yo Tomita:
You never thought that it would end this way, Yet such an end does not at all seem strange. If love is true, then death must make the change, Ending love by taking life way. Yet though our love is over, mine will stay, A triumph over death I will arrange, Rechanneling a fate I cannot change, That we might still on fields of fancy play. You never thought we'd share such months of pain, That you would die in agony, while I Would be as much a nurse for you as friend. Yet I would live the whole thing through again Just once more to look you in the eye And tell you, yes, this is how it should end.
May his soul rest in peace. Hamba kahle, qabane! [Farewell, comrade!] [Applause.]
Mr Speaker and honourable House, I stand here as a former member of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans with Mr Dlali. We worked very hard with him, in our understanding of the task before us as parliamentarians. We agreed that when we were in the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, our politics had to be left at the door before we entered into the discussions, so that we made sure when we were dealing with Defence Force matters that we were all united, because we were defending the country. He was a loyal member of the committee and a hard-working member of the ANC as I knew him.
He was a good gentleman, full of jokes, full of understanding of what was happening around the Defence Force and full of understanding of what the discussion was all about.
We pass on our condolences to his family and friends and to his organisation.
Okubi ukuthi abantu bafe ngezandla zabanye abantu. Kuhle uma umuntu ethathwa yiNkosi ngoba egulile kodwa ukufa ngokubulawa yikona okungafuneki ngempela. Siyethemba amaphoyisa azokwenza umsebenzi wawo abambe izigebengu. Ulale ngoxolo Dlali siyokukhumbula njalo. Ngiyabonga. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[It is very sad when people die at the hands of others. We are usually comforted when death occurs as a result of an illness because then it means that the Lord has called them back to Him. Being murdered is to die a horrible death. I hope that the police will do their job properly and the murderers will be arrested for this crime. Rest in peace, Dlali, you will always be in our thoughts and in our hearts. Thank you.]
Hon Speaker and hon members, we in the UCDP learnt with shock of the death of Mr Dlali at the hands of the prowlers that are all over the country.
I came to know Mr Dlali with his trademark walking stick. He was a jolly and ever happy man as he trundled along the corridors of Parliament.
He served on the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, amongst others, with the late Mr Ditshetelo, our leader then, and this allowed me greater access to him.
These meetings paved the way for greater interactions between him and me, as I later came to serve on the board of the Parliamentary and Provincial Medical Aid Scheme, Parmed, with him. I found him already a member, and he held a responsible position as he served on the executive of the board.
We used to have discussions and more often than not he would say he wanted to get me Umrabulo, and I would squeal but, diplomatic as he was, Mr Dlali prevailed upon me to subscribe to the magazine New Agenda, which he and Prof Turok, a doyen of this House, worked on. It was an academic and informative publication that dealt with contemporary issues, particularly of an economic nature.
It is unfortunate that David Dlali died the way he did. Our hearts in the UCDP go out to his family, the department where he was an adviser, and his political fort, the ANC. May his soul rest in peace. [Applause.]
The MINISTER OF WOMEN, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Hon Speaker, hon members and the Dlali family in the gallery, I stand here today to celebrate the life of a loyal servant of the people of South Africa - a comrade, friend, brother, father and committed cadre of our movement, who devoted most of his adult life to the service of his people. He was a humble yet fierce defender of the gains of our democracy and freedom.
Many of us are still struggling to come to terms with the shock and pain of the passing away of this great patriot, whose real contribution to our government and our people is still to be fully acknowledged and recognised.
He clearly understood the aspirations of the people of South Africa, and the great sacrifice that is necessary to achieve the goal of liberation. He contributed immensely to the downfall of apartheid and was one of the architects of our new democracy.
I stand here to pay tribute to one of the unsung heroes of our struggle for liberation, who served our young democracy with selfless dedication. Those in our country who are committed to the vision of a better life for all will sorely miss his passion and commitment to serving the poor and vulnerable masses of our people.
I have no doubt that David Dlali's name will be mentioned alongside those of the best sons and daughters of our country who passed away in the service of their people. All those who worked closely with him will treasure his memory as one of our most distinguished sons, who consciously chose a dangerous path that naturally invited personal suffering and sacrifice, state brutality, callous oppression, torture and police harassment.
He pursued this path with single-minded purpose, for he knew that, indeed, there comes a time in the life of every nation when it is faced with two choices: to fight or to submit. David chose to fight and dedicate his life to the struggle for freedom and democracy.
The people of our country will treasure his memory as one of our most distinguished sons, who consciously chose to fight a cruel and inhumane system at a time when it was extremely dangerous to do so. From a young age he demonstrated his commitment to the liberation of our people. He joined the uMkhonto weSizwe underground structures, as part of the liberation movement's objective to intensify the people's war against the tyranny of apartheid.
He joined the trade union movement and served as the National Union of Mineworkers, NUM, legal officer, where he first worked with Comrade Cyril Ramaphosa, now an ANC National Executive Council, NEC, member, and later with Comrade Gwede Mantashe, now ANC Secretary-General. Comrade Dlali also worked for the SA Municipal Workers' Union, Samwu, as well as the Food and Allied Workers Union, Fawu, as their legal officer. He never resigned as a trade unionist.
In the department he always fought for the underdog - junior staff and workers. He once told me about a problem concerning the women who cleaned in the department. I don't know how he found out about the fact that they were having problems with their supervisor, but he was soon in the forefront of the dispute with that supervisor. Whenever he felt that the people were being marginalised or their rights were being abused, he would stand by their side.
He was also elected a councillor in the Cape Metropolitan Council, where he became the chair of a committee of the Cape Metropolitan Council, CMC, with 60 councillors reporting to him. He was part of the formation of the SA Local Government Association, Salga, where he chaired the committee responsible for drafting Chapter 7 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
He served Parliament selflessly for almost 10 years, because he knew that it was a critical institution for our democracy and a crucial pillar of transformation. In Parliament he served in the following portfolio committees: Provincial and Local Government, Minerals and Energy, Defence, Trade and Industry, Agriculture and Land Affairs. He was always up to date and ahead of every director-general and official in this Parliament. He read every document that was put before him. He understood that it was through this institution of public accountability that we would be able to realise the vision of "The people shall govern".
Even up to his last day he placed his life and service in the hands of the ANC and the people of this country. Beyond the 1994 breakthrough he continued to serve the ANC with loyalty, to ensure that it continued to be a movement of transformation and a disciplined force of the left.
Adv Duminy, who was his next-door neighbour on the farm, informed me that David had mobilised most of the farmers in the area to ensure that they understood the mass democratic movement. He was always engaging them on this.
At the time of his death he was serving the people in the Ministry of Women, Children and People with Disabilities with unparalleled commitment and loyalty. In his own humble way he taught all of us about patriotism, accountability and loyalty to our country and its people.
He did not resign as a Member of Parliament, but continued to play an oversight role over the officials in the department. He always called them functionaries. He always agonised about corruption in the civil service, and was very sad that public funds were not reaching the poor and vulnerable who were the rightful beneficiaries of these funds.
As a cadre of our movement and a servant of the people of South Africa, his contribution was not aimed at seeking personal glory, fame or material rewards. His was a genuine commitment to building a future for our people that was qualitatively better than our ugly past. He was dedicated to building a nonracial, nonsexist and prosperous South Africa. Indeed, his was a selfless contribution to the advancement of all the people of our country.
To David I would like to say: Go on your journey with courage, my dear comrade and colleague. Those of us who remain behind will be forever grateful for the sacrifices you made. You left us a proud legacy, and it is this legacy that will propel us on as we confront the challenges that lie ahead. In you many of us saw the personification of patriotism, dedication and selfless service.
As we struggle to come to terms with the reality of David's untimely death, our thoughts and prayers are with his family and with all who grieve over his passing. To the family we wish to say: We are with you in your hour of pain and darkness. Your pain is our pain in the ANC. We hope that you will find solace in the knowledge that you are not the only ones who have lost a loved one. Indeed, the whole country and the entire democratic movement have lost a committed and loyal servant. You must find comfort in the knowledge that his life touched and influenced so many of us.
We shall leave no stone unturned in ensuring that those responsible for this dastardly deed meet the wrath of the law.
As a tribute to Comrade David Dlali let us continue to work tirelessly in pursuit of the kind of society for which he sacrificed most of his life. In his memory let us build a society that enables all its citizens, including women, children and people with disabilities, to taste the fruits of our liberation. This will be a fitting tribute to Comrade David Dlali, who dedicated his entire life to these ideals. Let us pick up his spear and continue where he left off.
Hamba kahle Mkhonto! Lala ngoxolo, Duma! [Rest in peace, Duma!]
May his soul rest in peace. I thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Order! The Deputy Speaker and I join in expressing our condolences. The condolences of the House will be conveyed to the Dlali family and to the ANC.
Motion agreed to, members standing.