Speaker, since this year's state of the nation address, in the main, celebrated the momentous occasion in the history of this nation - the release from prison of our iconic former President Nelson Mandela 20 years ago - it was inevitable, fitting and proper to also reflect on former President Mandela's legacy of reconciliation and peace, which he bequeathed to present and future generations of South Africans, twenty years on.
It is, however, most tragic that real and true reconciliation has eluded us in this country for various reasons. This country needs reconciliation, perhaps more urgently than most of us realise, to enable us to build on the solid foundation of our achievements of yesteryear.
This reconciliation, which has eluded us for two decades after the cessation of conflicts of the past, does not only need to take place between white and black South Africans, but also between and among black South Africans, and indeed between and among various political organisations that operate in this country.
Reconciliation is not something we can afford to brush aside or postpone to some unknown moment in the future; it is an imperative for the very survival of our nation. It is the very cornerstone of true nation-building that should be pursued in order to guarantee lasting peace for ourselves, our children and generations to come.
It is for these reasons that we call on the Presidency of our country, as an institution, and on you Mr President, as a person, to be an embodiment of the values enunciated by such an icon of our struggle as former President Nelson Mandela was. In particular, we call upon you, Mr President, to take decisive initiatives to save and extend the legacy of former President Nelson Mandela who demonstrated in word and deed that reconciliation and peace were firm foundations upon which to build this nation.
We mean bold and honest initiatives which go beyond mere public relations exercises pursued for political expediency and cheap political propaganda, driven by the temporal need to only do that which helps one score political points over one's adversaries.
It is for that reason that we read with horror that an ANC-controlled eThekwini Municipality, which commissioned the erection of a sculpture of three elephants, has now, after squandering millions of rand of taxpayers' and ratepayers' funds, buckled under pressure from those in the ANC who now think it was not politically correct to have commissioned such a sculpture. They think it will bolster the image of the hated IFP whose logo features three elephants!
While we have a very profound appreciation for the boldness with which you, Mr President, gave rare recognition to the positive role played by people such as the late Mrs Helen Suzman and Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, in particular, we are concerned at the failure of the ANC, of which you are president, to rein in the president of the ANC Youth League, Mr Julius Malema, who poured scorn on the positive role of former President De Klerk in getting Mr Mandela released, while castigating the IFP in very derogatory terms.
Mr President, Mr Malema is bad news for reconciliation in this country and he is bad news for the survival of the legacy of reconciliation and peace pursued by former President Nelson Mandela.
What is even more disturbing is the tacit approval and the encouragement that he receives from some senior leaders of the ANC, including you, Mr President. The office that you occupy does not belong to you personally. It is not your private property or that of the ANC; it actually belongs to all the people of South Africa. Therefore, we urge you to use it for the common good of all the people of South Africa - those who voted for the ANC and those who did not.
The ANC may have won election after election since the advent of our democratic dispensation in 1994. It might perhaps continue to do so in the foreseeable future, but that does not mean that the ANC has the monopoly on the wisdom of all that needs to be done in this country to achieve the very nice-sounding intentions and goals that the government has set for itself.
It will need the inputs of all people of goodwill from across the political spectrum represented in this House to make the necessary headway. The people of South Africa look up to the leadership of the country - which sits in this very House - for answers to their daily problems. We cannot fail them and we dare not fail them.
Mr President, you have committed your government to halving the loss of water from leaking pipes by the year 2014. Mr President, as someone who hails from KwaZulu-Natal, you know as much I do that the water of uThukela River literally runs a stone's throw from your home into the Indian Ocean. It leaves behind thousands of drought-stricken and destitute people in rural villages who cannot benefit from water, through no fault of their own. Is there nothing that can be done to change this?
Moreover, the Jozini Dam, which is in uMkhanyakude District Municipality, for reasons we suspect are political, does not benefit the majority of the people of Ingwavuma, oBonjeni and the entire uMkhanyakude District. Yet, when it is full, water is released, destroying even the people's gardens. This must change Mr President, if we want to save the legacy of reconciliation in this country.
Mhlonishwa Mongameli, ngiyethemba ukuthi asibakhohlisi abantu basemakhaya ngokuba sisho okuningi okuhle kule Ndlu, ngezidingo zabo zentuthuko kepha sibe singaqondile ukukulandela ngezenzo ezibonakalayo ukuze basizakale impela. Umuntu uze asole ukuthi hleze kushiwo izinto ezinhle lapha ukuze basivotele nje kuphela kepha singezukwenza lutho oluphathekayo ukuhlangabezana nezidingo zabo zansuku zonke. Ngiyabonga. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Hon President, I hope we are not deceiving people in the rural areas by saying all the good things in this House, regarding their developmental needs, whereas we are not prepared to act on that so that they can really be helped. One might suspect that good things are being said so that they can vote for us only and that it does not have anything to do with meeting their daily needs. I thank you. [Applause.]]