Mr Speaker, on behalf of Cope I join my voice with those that have spoken here this afternoon about the late Jannie Momberg. It was indeed with profound sadness that we received news of the passing on of this great son of our country. Jannie was part of the very ugly part of our history, as well as the great and beautiful part of that history.
Reports suggest that he died soon after watching the five-day cricket test against India played at Newlands. Those who are familiar with his passion for sport will probably attest to the fact that this is absolutely true, but of course his wife and family can confirm it. Like all sportspeople, Jannie mixed with many people, and mixed very easily, almost as if he were on the sportsground, watching the games, and so on.
Speaking for myself, both as a political leader and in other capacities, apart from knowing about him from reading newspapers, I really got to know him when we were in the ANC. I will not talk much about many of the things that happened.
I do want to say, though, that he was extremely passionate about the idea of national reconciliation. He was really inspired by former President Mandela's comments on this theme. A consequence of this, especially when he had had a bit of wine - of which I won't say much today - that I very much favoured, was his arranging of social gatherings for us, to convince other South Africans that it was good and that we really meant it when we said we wanted a nonracial South Africa.
So, at these engagements Jannie would say, "You have got to talk to so and so."
"Jy moet met die man praat. Ek weet die mense hou van Afrikaans en ons moet hulle oortuig dat ons mense ernstig is, dat ons 'n ware Suid-Afrika wil h wat vredevol is, en waar almal saam kan leef." (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
["You have to speak to the man. I know people like Afrikaans and we have to convince them that we are serious, that we want a South Africa that is authentically South African and which is peaceful, and where everyone can live harmoniously."]
And he worked for this. He spent his own money on it. He mobilised others, had lunches and so on, and I think that, if there is a little equanimity in this House, it has quite a bit to do with the work that he did.
When he crossed over to us, he was a cause of incredible ... [Laughter.] [Applause.] I often got fingers wagged at me, and it was said, "You, we are watching you!"
However, I think that by joining our ranks he was able to explain a lot of the things that we did not understand about the opposition, because he knew our ranks by then. He knew and understood things and he was able to explain to us why certain things were happening and why others were not.
And that is very important when dealing with the issues of our country, because apartheid kept our communities so far apart. The kind of education and interpretations of certain things that he gave helped one to overcome stereotypes and begin to confront the hard realities for what they were. I think we can be very proud today that we have a much better atmosphere in the House and understanding of each other, whatever the political divides may be.
Now, as our deeply divided society began to adjust to the new reality, Jannie, because of his political and social profile within the communities, provided crucial leadership at very important turning points. He did this at a time when the liberation movement was facing the big challenge of not only taking the lead in society, but of winning over increasing sections of the population to really be part of the great experiment of uniting the people of our country and building a reconciled nation. Today, we collectively mourn the loss of a conscious activist for a full- blown, nonracial South Africa. Our country has lost an industrious worker bee for democracy and nonracialism. To the ANC, its allies, his community, his friends and, in particular, his family and loved ones, we express our heartfelt condolences, and, sad as this occasion is, we cannot help but celebrate a life that was lived with purpose and which embraced every one of us as South Africans.
I thank you. [Applause.]