Motlotlegi Mmusakgotla, go bua boammaruri lekoko la gaetsho le wetswe ke kotsi e kgolo, mme re fitlhetse moriti wa setlhare se re ntseng re se nnela o ole. Go a bonala letsatsi le tlile go dika le re bolaile monongwaga. E rile fa Motswana a bua a re "Tlhapi solofela leraga, metsi a ?ele o a lebile". Mo go Rre Ditshetelo, re ne re na le moeteledipele. Nna ke nnile le t?hono ya go dira gaufi thata le ene, e le Mokwaledikakaretso mme nna ke le Motlatsamokwaledikakaretso. Ka nako eo ... (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)
[Mrs M N MATLADI: Hon Speaker, I would like to acknowledge that our party is facing a very difficult period in its history. We have just learned that we have lost a key figure in our party. I reckon that we are facing a difficult year ahead of us. Motswana once said "Draw solace from the knowledge that someone's immense contribution will never go unnoticed." In Mr Ditshetelo we have lost a leader. I had the privilege of working closely as his Deputy Secretary while he was serving as our Secretary-General. At that time ...]
... I was still a lecturer at the college of education, and politics was a part-time venture for me. I learnt a lot from him, including diplomacy in politics. I found him to be a loving, respectful, tolerant and selfless man. He would teach without limitation.
I remember his first day in the National Assembly of South Africa, after a long time of the Batswana not being represented in this House. Then in 1999 the UCDP brought them in. I am referring to the area where he was from, as a Motswana from the North West. I am not saying all Batswana generally. You must hear what I am saying. When he came in, he spoke Setswana like a Motswana, not like some of us who come and speak foreign languages here. He was not ashamed to speak his mother tongue and this is the first sentence he uttered from this podium, which is recorded in the Hansard:
"Ngwana sejo, wa tlhakanelwa." [It takes a village to raise a child.]
The world was mad about it. The media had a field day with it and people wanted to understand what that Setswana idiom or proverb meant. Well, now is not the time for me to teach or explain what it meant.
When we look into his life, we realise that he was one of the people who started a prayer meeting forum in the National Assembly of Parliament. That forum for people to pray together still exists today. We thank him for that. He even represented South Africa in the United States of America, where they had prayer breakfast meetings, and South Africa became known for its religious spirit through him.
He was a man who had seen to the revival of the UCDP - we are talking about the elective congress of 29 January 2011. We say that where he is resting, he might be saying: "Oh God, let Thy son's spirit rest for his eyes have seen the deliverance of the United Christian Democratic Party." Our party is faring well in this democracy. Our party has been revived and is ready to compete with other parties in the political arena, for the voters of this country and to share in the land of its birth. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Motion agreed to.