We wish to remind all eligible South Africans who have not yet registered as voters that they still have until the proclamation of the election date to register.
We are a people of resilience, of great determination and of great optimism. Despite the worst excesses of apartheid, we did not descend into vengeance when our freedom was won. Our democracy has blossomed and flourished, nurtured by the goodwill of the men and women of this great land, who understand only too well at what cost it was attained.
But the road towards true freedom is a long one, and we have seen the divisions in our society grow - between black and white, rich and the poor, between rural and urban, between the sexes, and between language groups and cultures. This has been most disturbing for many of us.
At times it has seemed that the milk of human kindness that allowed us to reconcile in 1994, had gone sour. But we will not surrender to the forces of pessimism and defeatism.
Our society is anchored in the roots of tolerance and co- existence, and we stand firm, resolute and united against all and everything that seeks to divide us or destroy our hard-won gains.
They told us building a nonracial South Africa was impossible, and that we would never be able to truly heal from our bitter past. Yet we weathered the storm, and we are prevailing. It was the eternal optimism of the human spirit that kept hopes alive during our darkest time. It is this optimism that will carry us forward as we face a brave new future. It is a South Africa in which every man, woman and child is provided with the opportunity and means to make a better life for themselves. It is a South Africa ready to take advantage of the technological changes sweeping the globe to make our economy grow and create jobs for our people. It is a South Africa whose people have vision, drive and ambition, making it a hub of innovation, entrepreneurship and enterprise. It is a South Africa that acknowledges the problems of the past, but looks firmly to the future. It is a South Africa whose leaders are bold and courageous, leaders who remain servants of the people, and for whom fulfilling their duty is the highest, and the only, reward. Above all, it is a South Africa of which we are all proud, of what we have achieved and of where we hope to be.
The task before us is formidable. Above everything else, we must get our economy working again.
I call upon every South African to make this cause your own.
Because, when we succeed - and we must - it is the entire nation that will benefit. [Applause.]
As government, as business, as labour and as citizens, let us unite to embrace tomorrow. Let us grasp our collective future with both hands, in the immortal words of the Freedom Charter: side by side, sparing neither strength nor courage.
This task - of building a better South Africa - is our collective task as a nation, as the people of South Africa.
As we approach these tasks and challenges, we should heed the words of Theodore Roosevelt, who said:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. This means that we all have a role to play as individual South Africans, as faith-based organisations, as sports organisations, as trade unions, as business, as students, as academics, as the judiciary, as politicians - Mmusi Maimane, Julius Malema, Bantu Holomisa, Rev Meshoe, Mnr Groenewald, Themba Godi, Mesuia Lekota, Molapi Tlouamma. We all have a role to play.
Let us continue to embrace the spirit of active citizenry in line with the injunction, Thuma Mina, in the onward march towards equality, freedom and prosperity for all. Let us all be sent by this great country as it takes us forward to greater prosperity. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
The Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces adjourned the Joint Sitting at 20:53. ----------------------- 7 FEBRUARY 2019
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