Chairperson, hon MECs, hon members, "Celebrating our shared pursuit of a united, democratic, nonracial and nonsexist South Africa" - frankly speaking, there is no reason why we are not united.
Fifty thousand years ago human beings left Africa to populate the world. The great Ice Age had wiped out life everywhere else. The remnant of 5 000 or so people who helped to save humankind lived in Africa. That is why every human being today carries a gene of an African mother.
Over the past few centuries people seem to have forgotten this. Our world, therefore, saw racial oppression of one race by another. Today, Mr Obama is the President of the United States; today black and white govern South Africa together. Even so, unfortunately, race is deeply imbedded in the consciousness of many people; not only white people, but black and brown as well.
The laager, however, is no longer a safe place in the world to live. We therefore need to see the bigger picture. Climate change, globalisation, and resource depletion put all of us in vulnerable positions. We need one another like never before. The lesson of four millennia of history is that we must live co-operatively.
Whatever we hope to achieve in international relationships will depend on what we achieve in our national relationships. In recent weeks, Ventersdorp brought to the surface what we had all hoped had gone away. Clearly, our journey of the past 16 years left many people at the station from which we departed. This means that this honourable House must, therefore, add active nation-building to its agenda. Every city, town and village should engage in a programme of bringing people together.
A common curriculum should inform the nature and manner of discourse. We, in Cope, believe there is considerable goodwill to work with, but very little common understanding. We also believe that all leaders, whether adult or youth leaders, should sign a charter based on our constitutional principles and values. Let this House take the lead in this. Racist and sexist conduct in behaviour offends against our constitutional principles.
We need to educate our people to appreciate our Constitution, which is why we need to frame the question of democracy, unity, nonracialism and nonsexism within our constitutional context. People in the country, all of the people, must be encouraged to buy into the Constitution, and encouraged to take ownership.
Cope believes that this House has a big role to play in furthering an acceptance of the Constitution by all South Africans. This must be done in the letter and in the spirit of the Constitution. Ventersdorp is a wake-up call. We have a great solution and we must make it work for us. Long live our Constitution. Thank you. [Applause.]