Somlomo, Mongameli ohloniphekileyo neSekela lakho namaLungu ePhalamende ahloniphekileyo ... [Speaker, hon President and your Deputy and hon Members of Parliament ...]
... this is the last state of the nation debate before that watershed moment in the history of our country and people - the centenary celebration of the birth of the ANC, the oldest liberation movement on our continent. [Applause.] Even though the centenary is only about the last 100 years, it is important to recall that the South African nation is a product of many streams of history and culture, representing the origins, dispersal and reintegration of humanity over hundreds of thousands of years. Archaeological findings in various parts of the country and the rest of the continent have now firmly located South Africa and the continent at large as the cradle of humanity and early forms of human civilization.
The formation and evolution of the ANC must be understood within the context of this early civilization and our own development as a nation. Formed in 1912, the ANC was partly a response to the deal between the Dutch settlers and the British imperialist power at the end of the Anglo-Boer War.
In 1910, it formalised a South African statehood premised on political oppression, social subordination and the exclusion of the majority of the people, as well as the defeat of the Bambatha Rebellion in 1906, which marked the end of armed resistance against colonial occupation.
Following this, South Africans from different walks of life, all provinces, all sectors including religious leaders, traditional chiefs, the intelligentsia and others, forged a unity in struggle under the rallying call of, and I quote:
Mzulu, Mxhosa, Msotho hlanganani! [Zulus, Xhosas and Sothos unite!]
Pixley ka Seme aptly articulated, and I quote:
The demon of tribalism and the aberration of the Xhosa-Fingo feud, the animosity that exists between the Zulus and the Tongas, the Basothos and every native, must be buried and forgotten, it has shed amongst us sufficient blood. We are one people.
As a liberation movement, the ANC set to unite all South Africans in their diversity behind the struggle for liberation and the transformation of our society. Being itself a multiclass organisation, the ANC worked with all the people of South Africa and all classes, including the working class and the communists.
It also worked with the Congress of the Democrats,the Coloured People's Congress and the South African Indian Congress. Accordingly, the ANC has always seen itself as a movement that belonged to all South Africans, the African continent and also to the progressive forces of the world.
Being conscious of the fact that the ANC, as a liberation movement, needed to be rooted amongst the people and work with the people, it also worked with the women, youth, rural masses, religious communities, cultural workers and business people. It truly characterised a liberation movement, and took up various issues that affected the people of South Africa.
In so doing, it was able to deal with all issues, from land dispossession to education, bus boycotts, pass laws, inadequate health care and housing, to name a few, and for the holistic transformation of South Africa into a truly democratic, nonsexist, nonracial and prosperous country. Accordingly, the ANC, in its commitment to the people of South Africa as a whole, unambiguously declared in the Freedom Charter in 1955, for our people and the world to know, that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white.
Today, I think it is proper to honour some of the people. I'll mention a few who were part of organising the formation of the ANC; people like Dr W Rubusani, T Mapikela, Rev John Dube, S Msane, Sol Plaatje, Pixley ka Seme, Albert Mangena, Richard Msimang and George Montsioa, who played a major role in the formation of this glorious movement.
Thina sonke-ke balapha eNingizimu Afrika, okufaka nathi esikhona kule Ndlu ehloniphekileyo yesiShayamthetho, impela kufanele ukuthi siwakhumbule lawa maqhawe ngoba ukuba akazange ahlangane esontweni lamaWeseli eMangaung ziyisishiyagalombili kuJanuwari ngonyaka ka-1912; abeka isakhiwo esiqinile sokuthi ikusasa laleli lizwe libe ngelikhululekile elibuswa ngentando yeningi, elingacwasi ngobuhlanga nangobulili. Ukuba abakwenzanga lokho ngabe asihlezi la ngokuziqhenya ukuthi siyiphalamende lentando yeningi. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[All of us, the citizens of South Africa, including us here in the National Assembly, must indeed remember these heroes because had they not met in the Methodist church in Mangaung on 8 January 1912, and laid a solid foundation for the free future of this country to be governed democratically, and in a non-racial and non-sexist manner, we would not be seated here with pride of being a democratic Parliament. [Applause.]]
The centenary represents a solemn and historic moment for the people of our country, the continent and indeed progressive humanity in general. The celebration also affords us an excellent opportunity to, as our icon Tata Nelson Mandela said, and I quote:
Take a moment to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds us, to look back on the distance we have come without lingering.
Looking at the vista, we can say without fear of contradiction that much has been achieved over the last century.
I will only mention a few of some of the major achievements of the century because if I had to mention all of them, we'd be here for a week. They are: One, all our people have been united behind the struggle for freedom and democracy, and the restoration of all South Africans' dignity has been achieved; two, we have a legitimate state that derives its authority from the people through regular elections and proper participation in the processes of government; three, popular participation in the processes of government has been established; four, we have a very progressive Constitution with a Bill of Rights; five, we have a single citizenship, one population register and one bar-coded identification document for all South Africans; six, we recognise 11 official languages in our country.
Our freedom of movement, association and speech is guaranteed. As a country, we proudly participate in the affairs of the global family of nations through the multilateral and bilateral forums. We are well on the way towards building a united African nation whose diversity is its strength and that will add to the tapestry of the continent and humanity at large.
Working together with all the people of South Africa, we have also been able to provide basic needs to the majority of South Africans.
Izinto ezinjengamanzi, ugesi, ezempilo, ezemfundo, ukuthuthukiswa kwezindawo ezisemaphandleni, imigwaqo, ezemidlalo nokungcebeleka, izindlu kanye nokunye okuningi esesikwenzile. Kwezesayensi nobuchwepheshe sesize sinemoto kagesi ezokwakhiwa lapha. Ngakho-ke, kuningi osekwenzekile kodwa sisasho futhi ukuthi kuningi okusadingeka ukuthi kwenzeke.
INingizimi Afrika isiyilizwe elithandwa ngabantu bomhlaba wonke, asebakwazi nokulivakashela. Kulo nyaka nje esiphuma kuwo bacishe bafika ezigidini eziyi-10 abantu abasivakashele, ngoba nje bezithandela ukuzobona iNingizimu Afrika enhle. Akusashiwo njengakuqala ukuthi abantu base-Afrika kanye nabanye akudingeki amaphasipoti abo abe nesitembu salapha eNingizimu Afrika.
INingizimu Afrika seyivulekile, iphilisana kahle nomakhelwane bayo, akusaliwa, sesingabantu abaziwayo ukuthi siyakwazi ukwenza uxolo lapho kukhona khona ukungezwani. Sesiyakwazi ukuthumela amasotsha ukuthi ayokwakha aphinde abambe uxolo ezindaweni eziningi. Lokho-ke akuyona into eyenzeke kule minyaka eyi-16 sibusa kodwa ngumsebenzi owenziwa yonke le minyaka le nhlangano kaKhongolose ikhona.
SekuyiNingizimu Afrika eyaziyo ukuthi izingane, abantu abadala nabantu abakhubazekile banamalungelo, noma-ke sazi ukuthi akukafiki lapho sifuna ukufika khona kodwa sesiyihambile indima ende. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[We have provided services such as water, electricity, health and education, and we have ensured the development of rural areas, roads, sports and recreation, as well as the building of houses and many more. With regard to science and technology we now have an electric car that will be manufactured in our country. A lot has been done, but we still insist that there is a lot more yet to be done.
South Africa is now a country liked by people from all over the whole world who are now able to come and visit. In the past year almost 10 million people visited us just because they liked coming to see the splendid South Africa. Nowadays, unlike in the past, it is no longer frowned upon if people of Africa and other countries have a South African stamp in their passports.
South Africa is open and has good relations with her neighbours; there is no conflict and we are now known as people who can make peace where there is conflict. We are now able to send our soldiers to establish and maintain peace in many places. This is not something that had been done only during the 16 years of the ANC being in power, but a task we performed all these years since the ANC came into existence.
It is now a South Africa which knows that children, elderly people and the physically challenged all have rights, although we know it has not reached the level we have aimed for, but we have covered a lot of ground.]
Our forbears have bequeathed a better South Africa, continent and world than the one they lived in, bestowing upon us an obligation and a responsibility to bequeath future generations with a better South Africa than the one we live in today. Of course, the centenary gives us that opportunity to reflect even on what kind of South Africa we are going to be working on in the next decade and also in the next century so that in 2112, those who are living then can say we have bequeathed them a better South Africa than the one we found.
Like Tata Mandela, we can rest only for a moment, because with freedom comes responsibilities and we still have much to do. We continue to face challenges of poverty and underdevelopment which threaten to erode the gains we have made since we received the mandate to govern from the people of our country.
We also pledge that the ANC would become a movement of the future, using its mandate to harness the organisational and intellectual resources of society to attain the vision of a national democratic society.
We have to ensure that all people from all walks of life and all sectors celebrate and participate in the centenary of the movement. More importantly, we call upon different sectors to use this opportunity of the centenary not only to evaluate the distance we have travelled, but to seriously consider how we will work towards transforming South African society in the next century.
This includes, among other things, the eradication of poverty, disease, illiteracy and underdevelopment, not only in South Africa but on the continent and throughout the world.
As we approach the centenary, it will be important to mobilise the different sectors of society just as our forbears did in the struggle for our liberation.
Njengoba sikhumbula ukuthi i-ANC yaqalelwa esontweni, eMangaung ... [As we recall, the ANC was formed in a church in Mangaung ...]
... religious leaders were there as well, and we encouraged them to celebrate the centenary and to look at strengthening the moral regeneration in our society.
Nabezemidlalo nabo kufanele sibabone bedlala benza konke okudingeka bakwenze ekugujweni kwale minyaka eyikhulu. [We must see even the sport that people are playing and the things they are doing in celebration of this centenary.]
... but also looking at where sports is going in the next century.
The intelligentsia should celebrate and also debate the significance of the centenary, the lessons we have learnt and what needs to be done in future, as well as having intellectual and academic debates in the country. The traditional leaders and rural masses should find creative ways of celebrating the centenary. The traditional leaders were part of the founding members of the ANC. The rural masses should be part of this. Businesses should be partners with government and work towards achieving job creation, employment and economic targets. Women came a long way in the last century and they should continue consolidating their gains.
The ANC has long recognised the indispensability of the emancipation of women in creating strong democratic societies. Our continent, the international community and indeed all progressive forces which have accompanied us on the road we have travelled since 1912, should be part of this celebration.
Finally, I think the youth should mobilise themselves to celebrate the centenary, more importantly because the next one belongs to them. Apart from celebrating, the youth should reflect and see what they think should happen in the next century. This should indeed be a national celebration in the inclusive nature and character of the ANC. All are invited to the celebration of this solemn and historic moment.
Obviously the ANC has a particular vision of society that we need to create. We are not there yet, but I would like to conclude by quoting from one of the finest and noblest sons of this soil, Oliver Reginald Tambo. He was speaking at the United Nations. I will give the long quote because I think it epitomises what we have to work towards. I quote:
Like all other patriots, we love our country and its people, all its people. It is a varied land of snow-capped mountain peaks, of deserts and subtropical greenery covering vast mineral resources. Its warm seas to the east and cold ones to the west contain also large animal and mineral resources. Our people, with their varied cultures, which are continuously mingling and interacting to their mutual enrichment, exhibit, despite their conditions, a great love for life and sensitive joy in the creative and human endeavours of the people of the world, without exception.
We will create a South Africa in which the doors of learning and of culture shall be open. We will have a South Africa in which the young of our country shall have the best that mankind has produced; in which they shall be taught to love the people of all races, to defend the equality of the people, to honour creative labour, to uphold the oneness of mankind and to hate untruths, immorality and avarice. We will have a South Africa which will live in peace with its neighbours and with the rest of the world.
I thank you. [Applause.]