Chairperson, Comrade Mike Coetzee left this world as he lived his life - he left quietly, and he had served quietly. He never sought the limelight, but he was always there where work had to be done to advance the cause of democratising South Africa.
I recall him well from the launch of the United Democratic Front back in August 1983. In our campaign he worked to build the United Democratic Front in the Eastern Cape. We were recruiting communities, civics, business formations, and church formations. He was very helpful, guiding us in areas that we did not know, ensuring that he identified people who would be critical to making this task a success.
Michael was an accomplished public servant in that sense, even at that time, because to identify people in society, however different the roles they play, who can nevertheless be brought together to form a current that will change things for the better, is not an easy thing to achieve. Yet, he had this capacity. He was one of the leading activists, very young, generally self-effacing, but his influence was always telling.
Public servants are those people. They do not want to be known for their political views or how brilliant they can be or this, that or the other. They want to take all the different people and take them in a direction that shapes a society. That was Comrade Michael.
I know that, as we go to the elections, we never think about these kinds of people who don't want to be known for whom they support, where their views are, but who are concerned that when the people have elected who must lead the country, they will bring their skills, their know-how, their dedication and hard work to ensure that those policies for which the people have voted are implemented, and therefore that the country and the people succeed. That is what makes a public servant.
I think, as we talk here today, that we must reflect quietly on how much we owe the men and women who do this. We do not even know what exactly their views are, and so on. However, they ensure that when we get here, each one of us gets water if we need it. Each one of us has paper and a pen if we need it, and so on. Those are the critical people who sustain governments and administrations. The political leaders come and they pass through. Administrations remain in place. They are an essential element that stays from term to term, serving the people selflessly.
Today, we are remembering one of the best amongst us. I hope that our Department of the Public Service and Administration can continue to build and cultivate this culture so that we produce an outstanding generation of public servants that will sustain our democracy, even when it comes to political advice on the things that need to be done, to sustain the Constitution and therefore the democracy. They are the vital elements.
He died young, and as our forebears and elders say ...
Sejana se se tle ha se jele ... [Good people die young ...]
... because people put it there; they admire it, and before you can use it, you know, it may fall and break, and then we lose it. What it really means is that extremely useful, productive people who understand their mission tend to die far too early.
I say this because our democracy is still growing. I hope we can find a substitute of his calibre. May God rest his soul in peace. [Applause.]