Hon Deputy Speaker and distinguished members of this august House, a conference of the leading European powers meeting in Berlin in 1884 to 1885 carved up the African continent and shared the pieces amongst themselves as colonies and dependencies. By the end of that exercise, with the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia, every other part of the continent came under foreign rule. Apart from these two countries, Haiti was the only other territory which remained independent after defeating the French colonial forces.
As a race, virtually all Africans had been reduced to a subject people, ruled and governed by others, usually Europeans or their descendants naturalised on the continent. Twentieth-century history was consequently dominated by the struggle of the Africans, in every part of the world where they lived, for the restoration of their human rights, their dignity and their freedom. The forms that struggle assumed were, in every instance, determined by the institutional framework in which it unfolded and by the manner in which the dominant power responded to resistance from the oppressed.
The year 1912 became an international dimension as one of the most significant fronts of a pan-African struggle by the people of Africa and the peoples of African descent, who were dispersed across the Atlantic by the trans-Atlantic slave trade, for freedom and self-determination. When we proclaim that this is one of the great and most moving days in the annals of our struggle, we know for certain that the sentiment is echoed in millions of African breasts around the world.
The year 1912 is emblazoned in the historical record as marking the inauguration of the pioneer of the African revolutionary movement, created by our forebears to reclaim the sovereignty of the peoples of Africa and to reassert the freedom the people of our great continent lost on a thousand battlefields, spread across Africa's landscapes. Since its inauguration in this city 100 years ago, the ANC has been at the forefront of the liberation struggle that culminated in the overthrow of white minority domination and the suppression of the crime of apartheid.
The significance of the 1923 Bill of Rights has a direct relationship to the Bill of Rights that is to be found in the Constitution of the Republic. The philosophy and wisdom that underpinned the 1923 Bill and the African Claims shaped our negotiations.
The annual conference of the ANC in Bloemfontein on 16 December 1943 adopted the African Claims, a document that expressed, in a dynamic way, the African position and status in the land of their birth, and which was addressed to the then government of the Union of South Africa. I quote from the document:
We want the government of the people of South Africa to know the full aspirations of the African peoples so that their point of view will also be presented at the Peace Conference. We want the government of the United Nations to know and act in the light of our own interpretation of the Atlantic Charter to which they are signatories. This is our way of conveying to them our undisputed claim to full citizenship. We desire them to realise once and for all that a just and permanent peace will be possible only if the claims of all classes, colours and races for sharing and for full participation in educational, political and economic activities are granted and recognised.
With regard to freedom volunteers, Nkosi Albert Luthuli, the president of the ANC, pointed out that the Defiance Campaign had served a notable purpose. He went on to say in 1954 that the first task of the freedom volunteers of that time was to work for the Congress of the People, "which will culminate in a great assembly, whereat our multiracial nation, through delegates elected democratically by people in all corners of the Union, will write our Freedom Charter - a South African Declaration of Human Rights".
The freedom volunteers' task was to visit men and women in their homes, in factories and all over, in order to explain the objects of the Congress of the People and enlist their support. The freedom volunteers are "field workers mobilising the people of the great Congress of the People", according to Chief Albert Luthuli.
Reiterating his call for 50 000 volunteers, Nkosi Luthuli concluded, and I quote:
Throughout history, no freedom has come to any people without blood and tears. Africans cannot be an exception to this divine test. But take courage in the knowledge that, no matter how dark the future may seem, right must triumph over wrong, and also remember that no national movement has ever failed.
The result was a national and international success. The adoption of the Freedom Charter by the Congress of the People was widely recognised, both at home and abroad, as an event of major political significance in the life of this country. In his message to the Congress of the People, Chief Albert Luthuli, the banned national president of the ANC, declared:
Why will this assembly be significant and unique? Its size, I hope, will make it unique. But, above all, its multiracial nature and its noble objectives will make it unique because it will be the first time in the history of our multiracial nation that its people from all walks of life will meet as equals, irrespective of race, colour and creed, to formulate a Freedom Charter for all people in the country.
With regard to context and origins, without going into the vexing question of whether the extent of the recognition could have been less restricted, I want to underscore the point that such recognition is legitimised by the contribution of our traditional leaders to the struggle against the evils brought to our shores by colonialism of a special type in which the colonised people shared geographic space with the coloniser. Traditional leaders, like the female regent Queen Manthatisi of the Basotho nation, were in attendance at the 1912 launch of the South African Native National Congress, which in 1923 was renamed the African National Congress, whose centenary we are celebrating this year.
The traditional leaders were part of the launch of the ANC and formed a component of its leadership, and this was not incidental but a culmination of their resistance wars since the advent of colonisation in 1652. It is traditional leaders like Sekhukhune of Bapedi, Ngungunyane of BaTsonga, Queen Modjadji of Balobedu, Makhado of VhaVenda, Moshoeshoe of the Basotho, Shaka of amaZulu, Hintsa of amaXhosa and Lewanika of Barozwi of Zambia who fought against colonialism to the bitter end. It is appropriate, therefore, that as we celebrate the selfless struggle of our people we do so in recognition of what traditional leaders and religious leaders have contributed and continue to contribute.
We continue to be indebted to our forebears for their bequest of democracy to our generation. Even at its formation, the ANC demonstrated its dedication to democracy in a democratic election that saw its first president elected in absentia. Indeed, President John Langalibalele Dube was a democrat to the core, a man who believed in reaching consensus through constructive engagement. President Dube led the ANC deputations to plead with the then British crown not to assent to the 1913 Land Act. The lack of success of the campaign is attributable only to the intransigence of the crown and its tacit ratification of racial exclusion.
We cannot forget that our democracy is steeped in morality and humanitarian principles, because of the influence that Ethiopianism had on South Africa and the ANC in particular. This influence was in the main, brought about by the fact that many young South Africans went to the United States at the turn of the 20th century to study.
Charlotte Makgomo Maxeke, ne "Mannya", who later founded the predecessor of the ANC Women's League, studied at Wilberforce University, an African Methodist Episcopal Foundation. Similarly, while a student in the United States, President Dube was inspired by the famous educational institution at Tuskegee, Alabama, that had been set up by Booker T Washington, the leading African-American spokesperson of the time. On his return Dube established the Ohlange Institute in Natal at which Chief Albert Luthuli himself studied.
As we celebrate the fruits of a selfless struggle, we need to recall that Africa is the initiator of civilisation and that men and women of the world used to come to Africa to learn about the matters of the world, chief among which were Greek philosophers.
When it comes to deepening democracy, human dignity and equality, we said in the Reconstruction and Development Programme that -
Our people, with their aspirations and collective determination, are our most important resources. In linking democracy, development, human rights and a people-centred approach, we are paving the way for a new democratic order. The thoroughgoing democratisation of our society that must transform both the state and civil society is therefore an active process, enabling everybody to contribute.
Our Constitution, in its founding provisions, sets out the values of our new and fledgling democracy as values of human dignity, the achievement of equality, the advancement of human rights and freedoms, nonracialism and nonsexism, the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law and universal adult suffrage, a national common voters' roll, regular elections, and a multiparty system of democratic government.
As I conclude, hon Deputy Speaker, allow me to say that, based on these provisions of the Constitution, we have transformed Parliament, set up Chapter 9 institutions, put in place programmes for public participation, repealed discriminatory laws and enacted policies and laws that enable greater gender equality. We have put in place a policy framework and institutions to ensure a caring society.
The strategy and tactics document of the ANC adopted in 2007 notes, inter alia, that the South African nation, as it currently stands, came from various streams and parts of the continent. Today we are pleased that all our people, both black and white, are united in their diversity and are working together to build a truly nonracial, nonsexist, democratic and united country in which the value of every individual will be measured by our common humanity. I thank you, hon Deputy Speaker. Happy Freedom Month! [Applause.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, hon members, our first ever Freedom Day will always be remembered as a time which brought out the best in South Africa. The national mood on that bright day was one of confidence and generosity of spirit. People said it could not be done, but South Africa did it.
We transcended the divisions of the past to negotiate amongst ourselves a peaceful solution to one of the bitterest and longest conflicts in history. This is why today we declare, with unshakeable confidence: "Honour your past; own your future."
I remember, however, how difficult the times were in the period prior to 27 April 1994. I grew up in Umlazi, in KwaZulu-Natal, a province that was ripped apart by a low-intensity civil war in which 20 000 people perished. KwaMashu was a hotbed of political violence. Massacres rocked the country from the Reef to St James.
I recall the Casspirs in the streets and the suffocating stench of teargas. Fear and foreboding stalked our communities. Peace seemed to completely elude us when prominent antiapartheid activists like Chris Hani were summarily murdered in cold blood. Our agonising history means that the transition was less the stuff of a miracle, and more the product of hard work, skilful negotiation, and the courage of the many. It concentrates our minds that if such a high price was paid for our freedom, we are duty-bound to make good on it, and to use that freedom every single day. So we all look back to that joyful day, 18 years ago, when it was first possible for every citizen to experience the sweet taste of freedom at the ballot box. We remember the lines of voters stretched infinitely, the heady chaos of a new democracy, and the air heavy with a sense of expectancy. We remember the exhilaration of South Africans from every walk of life and community standing patiently side by side. At last, it seemed, we had found a willingness to face our imperfections, and we began to see ourselves in each other. I vividly remember standing with my mother in one of those long queues in Pinetown, in KwaZulu-Natal, when, at the age of 44, she cast her first ever vote.
Madam Deputy Speaker, most people voted for the ANC on that day for one clear reason. President Nelson Mandela's vision of reconciliation had triumphed not simply by the power of his words, but by the nobility of his personality and his example.
President Mandela knew that democracy and freedom would not be self- sustaining. He famously only served one term as President to demonstrate that no individual or party is greater than democracy itself.
As our democracy has progressed, it has become clearer to us all that freedom is not something that is just exercised every five years at the ballot box, nor does the vote itself make a person free. We have learned that it is how we exercise our votes that will determine if it brings to power ...
Hon Mazibuko, could you please take a seat. There is a point of order. [Interjections.] Order, hon member! You don't know what the member is going to say.
Hon Deputy Speaker, as far as I am concerned we haven't yet amended the Rules of the House to provide for a member to use an iPad, and I can see the member is reading from an iPad. [Interjections.] So, in my view, this is not a provision of the House.
Please sit down. Could you continue, hon member.
The points of order get more desperate every day, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Just continue, hon member, please.
We have learnt that it is how we exercise our vote that will determine if it brings to power leaders who will deliver on the pledges set out in the Bill of Rights. They include freedom from the indignity of joblessness, freedom from preventable disease and ill-health, freedom from fear and danger, freedom from homelessness, and freedom from ignorance and despair. Freedom by these lights is not a once-off event. It is something tangible which each South African should be able to experience.
We call this the open-opportunity society, a society in which freedom is measured not by words, but by the provision of real opportunities. It says that no matter who you are or where you come from, you deserve a fair chance to live a life that you value.
Ironically and inspiringly, South Africans are realising that the ideal of a better life for all might be promised by the ANC, but it is realised by the DA, especially where we govern. [Interjections.] [Applause.] The DA is turning South African politics on its head by simply governing better than the ANC.
In the Western Cape and in municipalities like the City of Cape Town, the DA is crafting a new vision of a smart and capable government. Every decision we take begins by asking: How do we enlarge the promise of freedom contained in our Constitution?
One can just take the example of the back-yarder communities in Cape Town. For the first time, citizens residing in informal and semi-formal households are being connected through portable sites so that they can receive electricity, water and sanitation services. Freedom is marching on in Cape Town.
In the Western Cape, Helen Zille has presided over delivery success across government from an unprecedented boost in matric pass rates to improved health services and safer roads. How excited we all were when the Centre of Science and Technology in Khayelitsha was ranked ninth in matric outcomes in the province last year. Ninth! That is the first time ever that a township school in the Western Cape has made the top 10 of the best performing schools. [Applause.] That is the work of freedom!
Further afield, since the DA took control of Midvaal Municipality in 2000, unemployment has tumbled down to 12% because of smart job-creation initiatives that have made Midvaal a magnet for investment. But 12% is still too high. We will not rest until we have full employment, because freedom demands it.
As the DA delivers upon its promises, more and more people are starting to exercise their freedom to choose at the ballot box. Last year nearly a quarter of South Africans placed their cross next to the DA in the local government elections.
In last week's by-elections the DA trumped the ANC in a hat trick where it was defending three seats, and we are growing in every community.
Deputy Speaker, would the speaker take a question?
I will not. Hon Chief Whip, please take your seat. [Laughter.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, the ANC boasted in its press statements that these three seats would form part of the vanguard of its electoral strategy, especially in the Western Cape. However, the people of Kirkwood, Manenberg, Heideveld, Gugulethu and, yes, the people of Grabouw, know better. [Interjections.]
The DA has triumphed because people want to live a better life, not just to receive more empty promises from an ANC elite. Why is this significant? It shows that human rights, the tangibles of freedom, are stirring within the souls of every South African citizen. The ANC is being punished for its complacency in government at the ballot box. This is democracy at work.
More and more people are casting aside old allegiances to use their political freedom to gain access to the freedoms contained in the world's most progressive Constitution. The best thing about freedom is that people realise that you do not need to vote for the ANC to honour your past. More importantly, people are realising that you cannot vote for the ANC if you want to own your future.
The DA has emerged as the party for South Africans who want to honour their past and who want to own their future. Our debate today signals a return to that pervasive hope of April 1994. We ask ourselves: How do we translate freedom at the ballot box into real gains for every citizen? If we believe that we can secure our country just by talking without acting, then we betray the sacrifice of those who came before us to secure our freedom. Let us never forget the high standard that we aspire to. If only one South African remains in chains, then none of us is free. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, hon members, the freedom we enjoy today did not come free; it was achieved through sacrifice by many who are here and those outside the walls of this Parliament. The freedom we enjoy brought freedom to the oppressor and the oppressed today. That is why you will never find anyone that was responsible for apartheid today. All of us have become patriotic freedom fighters.
Those who waged the struggle against apartheid did not do so because of a promise of material benefits. They waged the struggle because of their love for the country. They can appropriately be referred to as genuine patriots. They were from different political parties, races and social classes. What united them was the desire to see South Africa free from racial oppression and discrimination. Some of these heroes and heroines are remembered by name, while, regrettably, others' role is deliberately ignored. All the same, one day the true history of this country will be told.
It is within this context that we have to ask: Can we objectively say it is possible to work together to build unity and prosperity for all? In 1994, the slogan towards ushering democracy in was "A better life for all". Today, 18 years later, can we honestly look back and say we are still on the road to building a better life for all? The fact that we are all here today holding this debate without fear that we will be locked up tomorrow for exercising our freedom of speech is indicative of the progress we have made. The fact that most of you of African descent arrived today in Parliament without running away from the municipal police, because you forgot your pass or do not have section 10 recognition, is proof that freedom has ultimately arrived.
We need to take stock and evaluate the past without romanticising our freedom and without demonising the shortcomings we have encountered. The truth is that much has been achieved philosophically while much still has to be achieved materially. We should not be drunk on self-praise or be demoralised by what could have been.
We acknowledge that all South Africans, black and white, regard themselves as owners of this land. They are willing to work together to build a better South Africa, a South Africa in which there is prosperity and peace.
The challenge we have as a country is to reach consensus about what it means to be a South African. We will not work together to build unity and prosperity for all if the gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow. We will not be able to build unity and prosperity for all if every time we are not happy about something we burn public property, because we believe that what belongs to the state also belongs to the governing party. We will not be able to build unity and prosperity for all as long as the governing party, which is sometimes confused and refers to itself as the ruling party, projects itself as the state and projects nepotism as the best form of distributing wealth and opportunities.
We cannot build unity and prosperity for all if corruption is institutionalised and those with connections get their criminal cases dropped at the speed of lightning, whilst those who pursue the ideal of equality before the law are suspended under false pretences and threatened with gun shots. Are we moving too fast towards renaming corruption "empowerment of a special kind"?
We will not be able to build unity and prosperity for all if the public broadcaster is the blatant mouthpiece and propaganda machine of the governing party. We look back to the 1980s SABC and correctly say, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
Today we are part of the global citizenry. We also talk about Millennium Development Goals. These goals are the basic needs about life or death. The public protests about service delivery cannot be ignored, and their frequency should be a source of concern to all of us. Are these an indication that we have decided to transform the promise of a better life for all to a better life for looters? Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, hon members, on the day of his inauguration as the first President of a liberated South Africa 18 years ago, Mr Nelson Mandela spoke about the time having come to heal the deep wounds and close the wide social chasm created over many decades by a callous system of racial oppression and social and economic deprivation, which was suffered by black South Africans and perpetuated by the white minority.
The right of franchise that was extended to the black majority put in place the final Constitution of 1996, with an independent legislature or Parliament if you like, an independent judiciary, and an independent executive. The Constitution enshrined a bill of fundamental human rights and established related institutions, all for the purpose of building and safeguarding a free and democratic state.
A lot has been achieved through this political freedom. Action has been taken to battle poverty, social inequalities, poor education, poor health conditions, homelessness, etc. However, a lot more still has to be done to attain true emancipation. Even when this political freedom empowered us with the ability to act, unfortunately, as a people, we have not grappled truthfully with the essence and the meaning of the depth of the wounds and the width of the social divide that Mr Mandela referred to. By being so inclined, we lost a vital opportunity to choose primarily the freedom to create and transform ourselves both as individuals and as civil society in order to lay a firm foundation for the emergence of a reconciled nationhood.
We have instead used the idea of reconciliation and nation-building as an opportunity to paper over the cracks of deep racial animosity, and wished away black internecine rivalry as commonplace and self-perpetuating. The reason for this is that, after 18 years of freedom, we, as South Africans, are even more afraid to confront and exorcise the political demons that constrain us from achieving all the freedoms we want.
It is of vital importance to appeal, once more, to President Jacob Zuma to take all the leadership of the land by the hand and to revisit the political crossroads together. Indeed, as the President of the IFP said on Freedom Day celebrations: "Eighteen years of democracy meant that it was time to tie up the loose ends of the reconciliation thereof." Otherwise, the chances are that we are conforming to the historical and the psychological fantasies that have upheld the system of apartheid for many years, while it took away the human worth, pride and dignity of South Africans. I thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, the past 18 years have shown us that our rights and freedom as citizens of South Africa cannot be taken for granted. They must be maintained and defended, and their boundaries constantly constructed according to the nature of the challenges that life brings us all. Daily we see examples of how individual and collective freedoms are challenged and defended. Each day brings new examples of how we, as South Africans, feel our private capabilities are bound by lack of service delivery, insecurity, crime and corruption.
The Western Cape government recognises that the provision of basic services for all is central to creating the opportunities that will enable South Africans to fully embrace their futures and be truly free. All South Africans deserve the same.
Our democracy was born free 18 years ago. Our sense of freedom should now be firmly held, by not merely our right to vote but from our access to basic provisions and services.
At the age of 18, South Africa's Freedom Day this year represents our rite of passage from youth to adulthood, from an emergent sense of the freedoms and capabilities we possess to ones that are held maturely and confidently proclaimed and demanded. With this rite of passage, the responsibility therefore falls upon us all to honour our past and to own our future. I thank you.
Deputy Speaker, hon Ministers, Deputy Ministers and hon members, Freedom Day commemorations should remind us of the heavy price our struggle heroes and heroines, both deceased and alive, paid for our freedom. Freedom Day commemorations provide us with an opportunity to reflect on the challenges facing our young nation and the progress we have made since the dawn of democracy.
Since 1994 we have made impressive strides in firmly entrenching the gains of political freedom. Today our people enjoy basic human rights and have access to economic opportunities. Considering our painful and divided past, we should pat ourselves on the back for managing to build a united country.
However, there is a bitter taste in the mouths of our people. We celebrate our freedom from apartheid and remember those who have sacrificed for this freedom, but are we really free when millions of our people are still shackled by the yoke of poverty and unemployment, when service delivery has come to a grinding halt in some of the poorest provinces in the country, when corruption in different spheres of government remains stubbornly high?
These challenges mean that the political freedom gained in 1994 has yet to translate into economic freedom for our people. Political freedom without social and economic freedom is a hollow concept. With our political freedom firmly established, steps should be taken to ensure that our people's dreams of economic freedom come true, and thus ensure there is real prosperity for all of us. I thank you.
Hon Deputy Speaker, on a lighter note, I just want to say I do not have an iPad and I do not have a piece of paper because I cannot read. So, that is just for the Whips from this side, on my right. [Laughter.]
Ons vier Vryheidsdag in Suid-Afrika, maar ek wil vandag s dat dit nie 'n dag van vryheid vir Suid-Afrika is nie. Dit is 'n vryheidsdag vir die ANC. [Tussenwerpsels.] Daar word altyd gevra, "Hoekom is daar nie witmense by die feesvieringe van Vryheidsdag nie?" [Tussenwerpsels.]
Ek sal vir u s hoekom witmense onwelkom by hierdie feeste voel, want daardie feeste is net ANC-feeste, en die wittes wat soontoe gaan, moet net altyd hoor hoe sleg hulle was.
Ek wil vandag vir u s ...
Sal die spreker 'n vraag neem?
Ek sal. As ek klaar met my twee minute is, gaan ek vir jou 'n geleentheid gee om 'n vraag te vra.
Wit kinders wat op 27 April 1994 gebore is, is nou 18 jaar oud. Hulle kan gaan stem in die volgende verkiesing, maar dit is daardie kinders wat as gevolg van die feit dat hulle wit is, gekeur word in terme van beurse, en omdat hulle wit is, benadeel word. Omdat hulle wit is ... (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[We celebrate Freedom Day in South Africa, but I would like to state today that this is not a day of freedom for South Africa. It is a day of freedom for the ANC. [Interjections.] It is always being asked, "Why are there not any white people present at the celebrations during Freedom Day?" [Interjections.]
I will give you the reason why white people feel unwelcome at these celebrations. It is because those celebrations are merely celebrations of the ANC, and the whites who attend those celebrations always have to hear how bad they were.
I would like to say to you today ...
Will the speaker allow a question?
I will. When I have finished my two minutes I will grant you an opportunity to ask a question.
White children born on 27 April 1994 are now 18 years old. They can vote in the next election, but it is those children who, on the grounds of being white, are judged when bursaries are granted, and because they are white they are being done an injustice. Because they are white ...]
On a point of order, Chairperson ...
... word die toelatingsvereistes ... [the entrance requirements ...]
Madam Deputy Speaker ...
... wat gestel word by universiteite ... [which are set by universities ...]
... on a point of order, please.
What is your point of order?
Madam Deputy Speaker, my point of order is that he is going on about white people, but it is not actually true what he is saying. I can bear testament to that. Thank you.
That is not a point of order.
Agb Adjunkspeaker, ek weet nou nie wat die punt van orde is nie. Die agb lid, lyk my, is 'n Rip van Winkel. Dit lyk my hy slaap net die hele tyd. Gaan net na die Universiteit van Kaapstad toe. Gaan kyk wat die toelatingsvereistes vir mediese studente is. As hy enige insig het, sal hy agterkom waaroor dit gaan.
Dit is die werklikheid van Suid-Afrika. Die werklikheid is dat u u geskiedenis wil vier op Vryheidsdag. Dit is goed so, maar dan moet u ook erkenning gee vir die geskiedenis van ander groepe in Suid-Afrika. Dan moet u ophou om elke keer straatname te wil verander ... [Tussenwerpsels.] ... en daardeur 'n streep deur die geskiedenis van een groep in Suid-Afrika te wil trek. U vier nie Vryheidsdag nie, u vier ANC-dag.
Die agb Hoofsweep kan sy vraag vra. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Mnr P J GROENEWALD: Hon Deputy Speaker, I don't understand what the point of order is all about. The hon member, it seems to me, is a Rip van Winkel. It seems to me he is always sleeping. Just visit the University of Cape Town. Ascertain what the entrance requirements are for students who study medicine. If he has any understanding, he will realise what it is all about. This is the reality in South Africa. The reality is that you want to celebrate your history on Freedom Day. That is just fine, but then you also have to give recognition to the history of other groups in South Africa. Then you need to stop changing the names of streets the whole time ... [Interjections.] ... and in doing so draw a line through the history of one group in South Africa. You do not celebrate Freedom Day, you celebrate ANC day.
The hon Chief Whip may put his question.]
Thank you very much. [Interjections.] No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. [Laughter.] Hon Chief Whip, the hon Groenewald's time is up, so please, do you want to ...?
I want to put the question. He can take it.
But he will not be able to answer that question.
Please give him a chance to answer it ...
HON MEMBERS: No! [Interjections.] [Laughter.]
... because, hon Deputy Speaker, the issues he is raising are issues of national interest. Could you give him one minute from the ANC's time to answer?
Sedert 2009, het u 'n vergadering gehou waar u die belangrikheid van Vryheidsdag aan die witmense verduidelik het en hulle aangemoedig het om deel te neem? My eie ervaring is dat witmense nie 'n probleem het met hierdie Vryheidsdag nie. Die probleem is u, want u doen nie u werk nie, en u het geld van die Parlement gekry om dit daar te gaan verduidelik. [Gelag.] [Applous.] [Tussenwerpsels.]
Agb Adjunkspeaker, ek weet nie waar ek die vergadering in 2009 gehou het waarna die agb lid verwys nie. Dalk moet hy vir my meer detail daaroor gee. Maar ek wil vir die agb lid vra, hoekom is dit dan die ANC wat die vraag vra hoekom witmense nie die vergaderings bywoon nie? (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Since 2009, did you have a meeting where you explained the importance of Freedom Day to the whites and encouraged them to participate? My own experience is that whites do not have a problem with Freedom Day. You are the problem, because you do not do your job, and you received money from Parliament to go and explain it. [Laughter.] [Applause.][Interjections.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, I am not aware where I held the meeting in 2009 to which the hon member refers. Perhaps he should furnish me with more detail. But I would like to ask the hon member, why is it the ANC who raise the question why whites do not attend the celebrations?]
Alright.
Dit is nie die VF Plus wat dit vra nie. U vra dit! U leiers vra - die ANC se leiers vra ... [It is not the FF Plus who raise the question. You are raising it! Your leaders pose the question - the leaders of the ANC raise the question ... ]
Thank you.
... hoekom die witmense nie by die vryheidsfeeste is nie! [... why whites do not attend the Freedom Day celebrations!]
Hon member ...
So, ek s vir u hoekom nie. So, u moet nie, as u 'n vraag vra, vir my vra hoekom u eintlik die vraag vra hoekom u wil weet ... [Therefore, I am telling you why not. Therefore, you must not, when you pose a question, ask me why you are actually posing the question as to why you would like to know ...]
Thank you, hon Groenewald.
... en as ek vir u s hoekom wil u weet, dan weet u nie, dan wil u vir my vra nie. [Tussenwerpsels.] Dankie, agb Adjunkspeaker. [... and when I tell you why you want to know, then you do not know, then you want to ask me. [Interjections.] Thank you, hon Deputy Speaker.]
Ke a leboga Motlatsa Mmusakgotla, Maloko a Palamente. [Thank you, Deputy Speaker, hon members.]
Dankie, mnr Groenewald. [Thank you, Mr Groenewald.]
We are gathered here 18 years after the dawn of our freedom, which occurred in 1994. The 27th of April marks a historic moment in our country's calendar of national events, as all South Africans were afforded the opportunity for the first time to cast their vote and elect a government of their choice.
Indeed, we are celebrating our freedom that was attained through struggle, determination and selfless sacrifice. Many of our heroes and heroines paid the ultimate price and, unfortunately, they did not survive to witness the freedom that we are enjoying today. It is also a day to pay tribute to the stalwarts of our struggle who include, among others, Oliver Reginald Tambo, Solomon Mahlangu and Lillian Ngoyi. The legacy that we have had to deal with in the past 18 years of our democracy can be described when we examine a speech made in the Senate of Parliament in 1953 by the then Minister of Native Affairs, who later became the Prime Minister of the Republic, Hendrick Verwoerd, when he said:
The native will be taught from childhood to realise that equality with Europeans is not for him. There is no place for the Bantu child above the level of certain forms of labour. Until now he has been subjected to a school system which drew him away from his community and misled him by showing him green pastures of European society in which he was not allowed to graze.
The point is not to focus on the warped character of Verwoerd, but to contend that the current South African society of rising unemployment, deepening poverty and widening inequality is the realisation of an intention to benefit a certain race while prejudicing others. It is therefore very transparent when representatives - although they will strenuously deny this - of the late Verwoerd not only conspicuously consume their benefactors' tainted legacy, but tacitly and expressly strain to ensure that the legacy devolves to the descendants, albeit in a modified form.
With regard to equality, we will not be content with the notion of being equal bearers of human rights, but we will work hard to achieve equality of outcomes using all possible measures, including positive discrimination and the substantive equality we seek as provided for in section 9(2) of our Constitution.
During these 18 years we were able to consolidate and deepen our democratic system and have introduced critical programmes and policies for our social and economic transformation. The progress we have made is commendable and holds out the promise of faster progress towards our ideals, thanks to the ANC. However, we are only at the beginning of a protracted process of change.
As a country we have entered our second decade of freedom with the strengthening of democracy and acceleration of the programmes to improve the quality of life of all people. Steadily, the dark cloud of the white minority and political domination is receding into a distant memory.
Therefore, as we celebrate freedom, we need to work together for the prosperity of all. This work has to be done in the spirit of the Freedom Charter in pledging that, together as one nation, united in our diversity, sparing neither strength nor courage, we will engage in the battle until we win the war against the troika of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
Indeed, we have also progressed in putting policies in place, such as the New Growth Path and the Industrial Policy Action Plan. We are intending to build roads, rails, dams and ports over the next decade, through which we will also be able to reduce both unemployment and the poverty of our people.
Maloko a Palamente, re le mmuso o o eteletsweng pele ke mokgatlho wa ANC, re a dumela gore ga re a dira go tlala seatla, mo go neeleng batho ba rona ditlhokego tsotlhe tse ba di tlhokang, go tshwana le metsi, motlakase, matlo le go lwantsha bonokwane.
Re a itse gore batho ba kwa metseselegaeng ga ba sa tlhole ba fudugela kwa ditoropong go batla ditiro, ke ka moo re le mmuso o o eteletseng pele ke ANC, re netefatsa gore re tla dira ka botswapelo le boineelo gore re tlise ditirelo kwa bathong le kwa metseselegaeng ya rona. Re nt?hafaditse maikano a rona le set?haba gore re tla lwantsha botlhokatiro le go fedisa lehuma le tlala mo set?habeng sa Aforika Borwa. (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)
[Hon members, as the ANC-led government, we agree that we have not done much to fight crime, neither in ensuring that the most needed basic services such as water, electricity, and housing are delivered to our people.
We are aware that there is no longer migration of people from rural areas to urban areas in search of employment; hence as the ANC-led government, we are committing ourselves to working diligently in ensuring that we bring basic services to the rural areas and to our communities. We have also renewed our pledge to the nation that we will fight crime, and eradicate poverty and hunger among our fellow South Africans.]
We call on all our patriots, black and white, young and old, here at home and abroad, to heed the call of the Freedom Charter, to spare neither strength nor courage and to join all those people who love their country, including those on my left, in building a South Africa that truly belongs to all. Hon members, let us mobilise the masses of our people, not because we want them to vote for us, but because our interest is to empower them so that they can participate in their own development. Desist from treating victims of apartheid as charity cases that you can call names as and when you wish.
The troika of unemployment, poverty and inequality is a reality. These challenges that we are confronted with affect all of us and need all of us to work together in order to achieve more.
In celebrating this Freedom Day the ANC will continue to enjoy the courage to stand against impediments in its noble endeavours and uncover the veil of social ills that have tormented our nation. We dare not fail, and we will surely overcome. Ke a leboga. [Thank you.] [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, the ACDP believes South Africans must stand and work together to develop our country into an economic powerhouse that will take Africa out of what appears to be entrenched and endemic poverty. We need to agree on how to achieve our shared goals together while dealing with noticeable cracks in our relationships as citizens.
We must find ways of correcting the ever-growing island of prosperity in the sea of poverty. Ways must be found to narrow the gap between the haves and the have-nots and the rich and the poor. It is worrying to hear that more than 90% of shareholders of a company voted for a 40% pay hike for their nonexecutive directors, while the same shareholders would never agree to ordinary workers getting the same 40% pay hike. This kind of attitude works against the prosperity for all that we are all aspiring to as it only increases the gap between the rich and the poor.
The power of unity was demonstrated superbly by the recent High Court judgment that halted the contentious R20 billion e-toll project in Gauteng. While the ACDP appreciates the fact that road improvements and maintenance must be financed by users, we do not agree with the way Sanral and government went about it. Their arrogant and bullying tactics were provocative, to say the least.
We believe good sense has prevailed in the face of mounting opposition from the labour movement, political parties and other interest groups. Credit must be given to Cosatu secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi for breaking rank with his alliance partners and organising a protest march in opposition to the e-tolls. Yes, indeed, unity is strength. While the ACDP appreciates that the High Court ruling is just a temporary reprieve, we nevertheless believe that this is a significant victory for united and mass opposition. We must unite and work together to review the charges that Sanral has undemocratically tried to impose on Gauteng motorists. If we succeed, we will have made great strides towards achieving unity and prosperity for all. Thank you.
Madam Deputy Speaker, the Lord has blessed a few people to walk the path of suffering. The great icon, Madiba, has changed this suffering into freedom for all. Therefore the word freedom is synonymous with Madiba and appropriately with all those that were in the struggle.
The MF acknowledges the great strides we have made in the economy, but the one area we have to deal with is the whole issue of the economic advancement of the working class and the poor. The gap between the rich and the poor is horrible.
We cannot debate Freedom Day in our offices and places of bureaucracy. We should start debating it in the rural areas, in squatter-camp settlements and on the street corners where young children who should be at school are begging. Before we can say we have achieved a lot, we have to ask the question: What, really, have we achieved? Are we spreading the wealth of South Africa to the ordinary people? Are they getting a taste of freedom? The MF calls for deep soul searching as the ANC celebrates its 100-year anniversary. It's time to return to the values and systems that the great founding fathers Oliver Tambo, Nkosi Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela stood for.
True happiness or freedom is when what you say, what you do and what you think are in harmony. Let us commit to building a caring society based on equality for all. Let us be reminded of the profound words of Madiba, that there will never ever again be any form of oppression in our beautiful land, South Africa.
It is time to march forward to deliver a progressive rainbow nation. I thank you.
Hon Deputy Speaker, I would like to quote from the ANC's 1969 Morogoro conference resolution, which says:
In our country ... it is inconceivable for liberation to have meaning without a return of the wealth of the land to the people as a whole ... To allow the existing economic forces to retain their interests intact is to feed the root of racial supremacy and does not represent even the shadow of liberation itself.
On 10 May 1994 Nelson Mandela, in his inauguration as the first President of a democratic Republic of South Africa, stated the following: We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation-building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all ... Let freedom reign. The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement. God bless Africa.
Maipfi haya o ambiwaho nga Vho Nelson Mandela mi?wahani ya 18 yo fhiraho. O vha tshiga tsha u sumbedza u fhela ha u fhandekanywa nga muvhuso wa tshi?alula kha shango ?ashu na u thoma ha lwendo luswa lwa Maafurika Tshipembe vho?he. Gundo ?a Afurika Tshipembe kha u lwela mbofholowo na demokirasi ndi zwi?we zwa zwi?ori zwavhu?i nga tshifhinga tshashu. (Translation of Tshiven?a paragraph follows.)
[These words uttered by Comrade Nelson Mandela 18 years ago marked the end of an epoch dominated by the apartheid racist division of our country and began the dawn of a journey for all South Africans. South Africa's successful struggle for freedom and democracy is one of the most dramatic stories of our time.]
The racial tyranny of apartheid ended with a negotiated transition to a nonracial democracy. The struggle for freedom was not without the considerable personal premium of thousands of men, women and young people who were involved. Apartheid and its labyrinth of regulations were based on imposed group membership, based primarily on race and also on ethnicity, with an entire classification process legally imposed and often arbitrary.
U bva 1994, mi?waha ya 18 nga fhasi ha vhurangaphan?a ha ANC, shango ?o no swikelela zwinzhi. Hu na vhudziki vhuhulu kha zwa polotiki. Nga murahu ha khetho dza 1994, Afurika Tshipembe ?o vha ?i tshi langulwa nga Mulayotewa wa tshifhinganyana. Mulayotewa uyu wo vha u tshi khou ?o?a uri buthano ?a vhukhethoni ?i ite mvetamveto na u tendelana kha Mulayotewa wa tsho?he hu sa athu u fhira ?a 9 Shundunthule 1996. (Translation of Tshiven?a paragraph follows.)
[Since 1994, in the 18 years under the ANC leadership, the country has achieved a lot. There is greater political stability. Following the 1994 election, South Africa was governed under the interim Constitution. This Constitution required the constituent assembly to draft and approve a permanent Constitution by 9 May 1996.]
The government of national unity established in terms of the interim Constitution remained in effect until 1995. The parties, originally comprising the government of national unity, that is the ANC, the NP and the IFP, shared executive power. On 30 June 1996 the NP withdrew from the government of national unity to become part of the opposition.
Despite the withdrawal, political stability persisted and the sky did not fall down. The country and its people, under the leadership of the ANC, continued on their common journey, commonly begun on 27 April 1994.
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, in its Bill of Rights, provides extensive guarantees, including equality before the law and the prohibition of discrimination. It also provides for an independent and impartial judiciary. In practice, under the leadership of the ANC, these provisions are respected.
The government has reduced the budget deficit and the public debt, while the economy has been growing and continues to grow.
Naho ho vha na dzikhaedu dza masiandoitwa a muvhuso wa tshi?alula kha khethekanyo dza zwa matshilisano na ikonomi, u shaea ha mishumo, vhushai, na tshutshedzo ya HIV na Aids; zwine zwa khou tea u sedzeswa ndi zwauri Maafurika Tshipembe vho fara lwendo luthihi nga 1994 nahone vha dzula vho fulufhela uri he?i shango ?i ?o vha fhethu ha khwi?e. (Translation of Tshiven?a paragraph follows.)
[Despite the challenges of the legacy of apartheid with regard to social and economic divisions, unemployment, poverty and the threat of HIV and Aids, what needs to be focused on is that South Africans have embarked on a common journey since 1994 and remain optimistic that this country will be a better place.]
None of these achievements would have been possible had our President not had at his side a team of very able and talented colleagues and lieutenants. It was this remarkable group of men and women, comprising comrades of the calibre of J B Marks, Yusuf Dadoo, Florence Mophosho, Moses Kotane and Duma Nokwe, all of whom are no longer with us, that held together our movement during those difficult times and kept the final goal in clear focus, despite the odds.
Our movement owes a great debt of gratitude to these departed comrades and also to the other serving members of the national executive.
There are issues of concern I would like to refer to. The pressing challenge is to lift our nation out of the quicksand of despair onto the solid rock of human dignity in order to instil patriotic pride as the ANC flag flies high, glowing with an incredible amount of vision, in order to make every South African proud.
One must hasten to warn that without faith in each other, our highest dreams will pass silently into dust. I believe it is time for all of us to reflect, study, struggle forward and come up with solutions to the challenges the people of South Africa in general face in order to become pillars for victories to come.
We all know the effects of the apartheid legacy. Unfortunately, as the ANC, we attained political freedom without an economic base. We had to learn fast. Today we are a force to be reckoned with in the international arena. But a piece of economic freedom is not enough to address the political ills of our time.
As public representatives we are here on behalf of our different constituencies and we know that unlike bread, a slice of economic liberty won't satisfy hunger. Economic freedom is like hunger; it cannot be had in instalments. We have a mandate to usher in a period of economic freedom. Economic freedom is like life; it, too, cannot be had in instalments. Economic freedom is indivisible. It is either we have it or we have nothing.
The time to apportion the blame on apartheid is past. As Members of Parliament we have a personal responsibility to pursue a path to excellence through personal education, training and hard work in exercising our oversight role. If someone thinks that the ANC is too small to deliver a better life for all, that individual must try going to bed with a mosquito tonight. [Laughter.]
Our most important motives as politicians are not echoes of the past, but rather the prevailing challenges our people face on a daily basis and beckoning from the future. In our search for excellence, I can promise that there will be difficult days ahead. We all know that problems are but the challenges of life. That's why a good amount of fleas is good for a dog. It keeps it from brooding over being a dog.
Our call is therefore to everyone in this House: Give your all for the ANC for it to continue being an agent of change. Our communities are sick and tired of political steroids and slogans that are as tasteless as a mouth full of sand. Each and every member of this House has to be a headlamp, not a tail-light.
Let us be genuinely thankful for how far we have already come, but we should not rest on our previous accomplishments. Let us honour and appreciate those accomplishments by using them as a starting point for greater success. The ANC leads. It is adaptable, creative, flexible and effective at getting things done. Together we can do more. Inkomu. Ndza khensa. [I thank you.] [Applause.]
Debate concluded.