I hope you will forgive my voice, which I have not been able to get right, because, I think ...
... ek rook soos 'n vark. [... I smoke like a chimney.] [Laughter.]
The Freedom Charter and all preceding documents of the progressive forces are underpinned by the recognition of the diverse nature of our society with all its cultures, customs, practices and beliefs treated equally and accorded the same status in our society, which further promotes peaceful coexistence. These principles informed the struggle for the liberation of humankind in South Africa and influenced our collective resolve to fundamentally transform our society.
The Preamble to our Constitution outlines the vision of a democratic state which should:
Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;
Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by the law;
Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and
Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.
Hence our Constitution represents the embodiment of the values which we, as the ANC and other progressive movements, fought hard to achieve over the past century and continue to guard jealously as the custodians of our democracy.
The vision of the Freedom Charter places a responsibility on the democratic state to build a nonracial, nonsexist, democratic and prosperous society, by locating at the centre of its programmes the values and principles of equality and respect for human rights. Thus over the years the democratic state has been focussed on undoing the past repressive and discriminatory rule and it replaces it with the ones embracing the principle of equality before the law both in principle and practice. This was a fundamental task requiring that all progressive forces be harnessed for the common good of society.
This struggle is continuing, as we observe on a daily basis, in the resistance by some among us here who are hell-bent on perpetuating the inequalities of the past. These are the people who challenge every initiative by the democratic state. They even mobilise resources to resort to the courts to frustrate every effort of transformation. [Applause.] They can only inspire us further to continue to pursue our transformation agenda.
We are sitting here today as leaders of political parties representing our people from diverse ethnic, political, social, cultural, religious and indeed economic backgrounds. This is the outcome of a huge compromise made by all of us. Today we addressed the legal exclusion and marginalisation of our people from participating in drafting the laws that govern them - exactly what the Freedom Charter had envisioned.
We should now collectively forge ahead with the same spirit we displayed when negotiating the transition to a new order. We should, however, not forget that we have not completely healed the wounds of the past human rights violations, a necessary ingredient to the building of a nation and creation of a caring society.
As a society we need to continue to engage in dialogue with the sole aim of attaining the common goal of human dignity. This is one of the tasks that still lie ahead. With this in mind, nation-building remains an ongoing goal, which should culminate in the attainment of the objectives outlined in the Freedom Charter and the Constitution.
Nation-building and the creation of a democratic society necessarily require a state to address the current challenges facing our communities. The democratic state needs to uplift our communities from ravaging poverty, extreme inequalities and unacceptably high levels of unemployment. These challenges continue to hinder progress of our democratic state to achieve the ideals of the Constitution, and indeed our resolve for nation-building and social cohesion.
These challenges further tend to perpetuate the exclusion and marginalisation of poor people from mainstream economic and social participation - the key ingredients of nation-building. Unless we address these challenges ... [Interjections.]