Hon House Chairperson, it was A K Soga, the editor of the small-town newspaper Izwi Labantu, who said, and I quote:
Equal rights for all south of the Zambezi is the motto that will yet float at the masthead of this new ship of state which has been launched under the Union, and no other will be permanently substituted while there is one black or coloured man of any consequence or self-respect in the country or any white man who respects tradition of free government. So help us God.
Upon the Union of South Africa in 1910, Soga warned that until all South Africans of different races, identities and cultures were recognised as citizens and shared in the development of the country, and until all could vote, there would be no peace and no unity in the country.
At the time, it seemed that equal rights for all were an impossible dream. Even after the birth of the ANC, in 1912, it would take some 50 years to begin to break the stranglehold of legalised racism, segregation and separate development. Throughout the various struggles for freedom endured by the majority of the people of this country the overriding principles and values of the ANC and its founding fathers and mothers remained ever relevant. As articulated by Pixley ka Isaka Seme in October 1911, I quote:
The demon of racialism, the aberration of the Xhosa-Fingo feud, the animosity that exists between the Zulus and the Tongas, between the BaSothos and every other native must be buried and forgotten. It has shed among us sufficient blood. We are one people.
This focus on unity, peace and reconciliation and its attainment has consistently been at the forefront of our journey towards freedom, led by the ANC. It is not surprising that the leaders who emerged out of this glorious movement claimed the vacant space in this country during the dark days of apartheid and beyond - of unifiers, bringers of freedom, soldiers of reconciliation and preachers of forgiveness.
One such man, who embodied all of these, was our iconic leader, Nelson Mandela. His "uncommon humility", as the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, called it, provided us with a leader whose story we all know so well; a true servant of the people, in word and in deed.
The "uncommon humility" we have all come to recognise in him is in the oft- repeated assertion that all that was accomplished was because of many countless others and not him. He believed it was the collective who should be given the credit and lauded, not him. However, he acceded to being the face of the democratic struggle when called upon to do so. As he knew, it was necessary to rally the troops, internally and externally, to strengthen the fight against apartheid.
In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, he states that he never much cared for personal prizes. He said:
A man does not become a freedom fighter in the hope of winning awards, but when I was notified that I had won the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize ... I was deeply moved. The award was a tribute to all South Africans, and especially to those who had fought in the struggle; I would accept it on their behalf.
He was amazingly practical and forthright. Upon criticisms of his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize together with apartheid's last President, F W de Klerk, he countered the accusations by simply stating that, and I quote: "I never sought to undermine Mr De Klerk for the practical reason that the weaker he was, the weaker the negotiation process." He further added, and I quote: "To make peace with an enemy, one must work with that enemy and that enemy becomes your partner."
On the election campaign trail in 1994, he believed it was important to ensure that people understood the realities of what it would take to transform and develop the country and that it could not be done overnight. He challenged blacks to understand and have patience, and he was clear that he would not patronise them. He was adamant that the government could not do all for the people, but that they would have to join hands in their own development. He also reassured whites that they were South Africans too and that this was their land as well - although sometimes they don't listen.
When he saw the election process being derailed, he knew it needed every bit of strength he could muster to get it back on track. He stated at a rally in March 1994, and I quote: "I will go down on my knees to beg those who want to drag our country into bloodshed."
His belief in ubuntu was present in all his actions and deeds. In 2006, Madiba explained his view of the African spiritual ethic, ubuntu, in an interview with a South African journalist, and I quote:
A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?
He was a great believer in the power of the human spirit and that of the community and while he supported self-enrichment, his view was that enrichment should be for the benefit of one's community and fellow man. Ubuntu helped to shape Madiba during each of the significant stages in his spiritual development: his Xhosa childhood; during his formative years at various stages of his education and profession; his political development before and during his incarceration; and his embracing of his oppressors.
Madiba's vision, shaped by his African heritage, his missionary education, the oppression of his people in the land of their birth and his incarceration on Robben Island, moulded the man and his singular vision. He articulated this in his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, and I quote:
It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else's freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken away from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.
Madiba often stated that he joined the struggle with no illusions. He knew what the ultimate price was and was willing to pay it. His integrity and honour were such that when in January 1985 he was offered his conditional freedom - the condition being that he unconditionally rejected violence as a political instrument - he rejected the offer with no hesitation. He then stated, and I quote:
I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom. Too many have died since I went to prison. Too many have suffered for the love of freedom. I owe it to their widows, to their orphans, to their mothers and to their fathers, who have grieved and wept for them ... But I cannot sell my birthright, nor am I prepared to sell the birthright of the people to be free. Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts ... I cannot and will not give any undertaking at a time when I and you, the people, are not free. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated. I will return.
Once more, his calling on his belief in ubuntu demonstrates the axiom of "I am because we are".
His vision of a country belonging to all who live in it surpassed the idea of national liberty, and people from across South Africa's religious and racial divides gravitated towards his visionary leadership.
A further influence in his idea of racial harmony for the country was the Satyagraha, loosely translated as "insistence on truth", the belief of Mahatma Gandhi, which freed India in 1947. Since Gandhi also lived and worked in South Africa for many years, from 1893 to 1914, his emancipatory vision greatly influenced Madiba.
Madiba also paid tribute to the Methodist Church and its role in his life. He credited the Methodist Church for their record of commitment to the development of Africa's sons and daughters in more areas than one. The great institutions of learning, which spread from the Rev William Shaw's chain of mission stations in this region, shaped the minds and characters of generations of our people, as well as many of our present leaders. Mandela believed that the religious community played a central role in the founding and evolution of the ANC, and particularly leaders such as Calata, Mahabane and Maphikela, as well as Abdullah Abdurrahman and Mahatma Gandhi.
In December 1999, Madiba declined going on a visit to the United States because he wanted to address the World Parliament of Religions. He acknowledged the contributions of the various religions in the country to the freedom that we enjoy today. It is therefore fitting that we should take this opportunity to give Madiba credit for the formation of the National Interfaith Council of SA, which brings together all religious people in this country. It is even more fitting that we should take this opportunity to credit Madiba for the adoption of the Bill of Responsibilities by the Department of Basic Education and also the campaign that Legal Education and Development, Lead SA, has embarked on together with the department to ensure that the morality of our people is restored from the school level to community level.
In conclusion, in this paper I brought to the fore the values that Madiba stood for. We must heed the words of Seaparankwe Andrew Motlokoa Mlangeni, who said on 18 July that we can become a great country only if we can emulate our Isithwalandwe Nelson Mandela. I hope that this is the way we will go to ensure that we entrench and deepen this democracy. I thank you, hon House Chairperson, for the opportunity to address this august House. [Applause.]