Mr Speaker, hon members of the Joint Sitting, it is indeed my honour to pay the respects of my party, the DA, to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
Bawo, uhlobo oyichaza ngayo indlela okhule ngayo eQunu iyayichukumisa intliziyo yam njengommi waseMpuma-Koloni. [Sir, the manner in which you describe the way you grew up at Qunu village touches my heart as a resident of the Eastern Cape.] Your colourful description in Long Walk to Freedom of growing up in a rural village resonates with many of us, and I quote:
I was born free - free to run in the fields ... free to swim in the clear stream that ran through my village, free to roast mealies under the stars and ride the broad backs of slow-moving bulls.
This showed an innocent naivety which soured when you later came to learn that this freedom was an illusion under colonial and apartheid repression.
You, Sir, were able to turn circumstances designed to degrade and destroy you and your people into a triumph over adversity. You taught us also that the oppressor needs to be liberated just as much as the oppressed, that a man full of hatred is a prisoner behind the bars of his prejudice and has been robbed just as surely of his humanity.
It is a matter of national importance that we as members of this House continue to strive to set an example by adhering to the moral direction that has been your lodestar. We have all observed you display unique humanitarianism even at your venerable age by showing devoted care for those less fortunate than us, by establishing funds and homes for your beloved children, and by your unconditional love of those infected and affected by HIV and Aids.
Nelson Mandela means so much to all of us. To me he exemplifies reconciliation. To my son, who went to school in 1994, he represents true freedom and democratic hope. My colleague the hon Dr Wilmot James, who co- edited the book Nelson Mandela: From freedom to the future, says he adores and respects the man because he lives by his word and embraces others with love.
I could go on and on, but rather the symbolically significant 67 DA members of the National Assembly and our 10 colleagues in the National Council of Provinces will pay our collective respects to Nelson Mandela by committing ourselves to dedicating at least 67 minutes every 18 July to assisting and providing extraordinary care and support to the needy communities in our constituencies, with special attention to institutions caring for children and the aged in our society. [Applause.]
You said that you were moved to serve by the tales of valour of your ancestors who fought wars in defence of your fatherland, by people like Dingane, Bambatha, Hintsa, Makana, Ndlambe and Sekhukhuni. We, too, are moved to serve by your example of service and reconciliatory nation- building.
However, allow me to remind this Assembly of what we actually need to do to pay honest tribute to Nelson Mandela and to succeed as a country. We would be fooling ourselves if we thought 67 minutes a year was enough to bring to fruition Madiba's dreams. We, and the ANC in particular, must honour and implement Madiba's philosophy and ideals every day of the year.
The DA believes in an open opportunity society for all, where people can reach their full potential by improving their skills to allow them to follow their dreams. Let me illustrate that former President Mandela, too, believes in an open opportunity society for all, but that the actions of the current ANC represent the opposite. [Interjections.]
About human rights he says the following, and I quote: South Africa's future foreign relations will be based on our belief that human rights should be the core concern of foreign relations ... South Africa will not be indifferent to the rights of others. Human rights will be the light that guides our foreign affairs.
At the moment our foreign affairs policy is guided by political solidarity with former liberation movements and anti-Western sentiments, the consequence of which is that human rights take a back seat to appeasement and compromise. This happened constantly under former President Mbeki's watch. Now, too, under President Zuma, our failure to condemn the African Union for ignoring the International Criminal Court's warrant of arrest for President Omar Al-Bashir is an indication of unacceptable tolerance for violators of human rights. [Applause.]
About providing opportunities Madiba says:
Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfil themselves.
That is the essence of the open opportunity society.
If the ANC could just, once again, embrace the ideals that our iconic Nelson Mandela embodied, it would achieve much and honour him appropriately.
The wonderful thing is that we can meet today in this country, as the hon Chief Whip said, and pat ourselves on the back because we had an exemplary leader in Nelson Mandela; somebody who is glorified and held in the highest esteem all over the world. We were indeed fortunate as a country to have somebody like him at a time when we needed him more than ever before. So, we were lucky, and it is an honour to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela. [Time expired.] [Applause.]