Date: 15/02/2010
Source: The African National Congress
Title: ANC: Motshekga: Speech by the ANC Chief Whip, during the Debate on the State of the Nation Address, Parliament

1. The Victory of Freedom and Democracy

As the ruling party, the ANC
once again wishes to join the masses of our people in thanking President
Jacob Zuma for calling the Joint Sitting of Parliament in the evening on 11
February 2010 to deliver his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

The timing
of SONA is particularly important because it coincided with the celebration
of the 20th anniversary of the release of our icon, Seaparankoe Nelson
Mandela from prison. The delivery of this important address in the evening
when workers and students were at home was an affirmation of the activist
character of the fourth democratic government and Parliament.

The ANC and
the masses which it represents believe that the release of Nelson Mandela
will remain a watershed moment worthy of auspicious celebrations. We
therefore wish to thank the President for dedicating the 2010 SONA to Nelson
Mandela and all sung and unsung heroes and heroines of our struggle for
liberation. Our gratitude also goes to the ANC, the National Interfaith
Leaders Council (NILC) and the My Mandela Moment leaders for organizing and
participating in the re-enactment of the release of Nelson Mandela.

For
some days before SONA, there was a debate as to who brought about the
release of Nelson Mandela. Some attributed this to Mr FW de Klerk whilst
others credited this to the exiled leadership of the ANC. The President has
cleared the confusion and laid the matter to rest.
However, the debate has
offered us an opportunity to rewrite the history of our country not only for
posterity but also to reflect on the struggle between humanity and
inhumanity and the triumph of humanity and its inherent values of equality,
freedom and justice for all.

2. Historical perspective

In his address to
the First Pan Africanist Conference in1900, WEB Du Bois foretold that the
colour bar would be the greatest problem of the 20th Century. Hardly two
years thereafter, the Boers and the Britons concluded the Treaty of
Vereeniging in 1902 which reconciled these two imperialistic, colonial and
settler communities on the basis of social exclusion of the black majority.

This social and political exclusion was consolidated and
constitutionalised through the South Africa Act of 1909 which created the
white supremacist Union of South Africa. The President correctly observed
that this exclusion of black people from the apartheid Union was one of the
chief reasons for the formation of the African National Congress in
1912.

The centenary of the establishment of the Union of South Africa
presents us with an opportunity to reflect on the struggle between humanity
and inhumanity and celebrate the victory of humanity and its inherent values
of equality, freedom, and democracy over a period of hundred years. The
struggle started with the wars of resistance which were waged by the likes
of Inkosi Bambatha.

In 1892, Mangena Mokone, Founder of the Ethiopian
Church of South Africa called on the African people to unite and co-operate
to defend themselves against settler communities who were forcibly depriving
them of their land and natural resources. Recently, President Jacob Zuma
rightfully bestowed the order of Maphungubwe on Mokone as a leader of a
church that espoused the Pan African ideals and a champion in the promotion
of African unity and co-operation. In the same year (1892), John
Langalibalele Dube called for a spiritual, humane and prosperous Africa.

In
1905, Pixley ka Seme not only embraced these values, but also called for a
unique civilisation for Africa and Africans. Chief Albert Luthuli embraced
such a civilisation relating it to the ancient Egyptian and Chinese
civilisations. The distinctive feature of this civilisation began to emerge
in the 1921 speech of Z.R. Mahabane who observed that the Union government
had forcibly dispossessed black people of their land and its natural
resources, degraded and dehumanized them, rendered them voteless, hopeless,
homeless and landless.

Going forward, the ANC was left with no choice than
to fight for the recovery of the humanity of black people and its inherent
values of equality, freedom and democracy. Their demands for freedom were
incorporated into the 1923 and 1943 Bills of Rights.

The struggle between
humanity as espoused by the ANC and inhumanity of the colonial system
escalated in 1948 when the nationalist party came into power on the platform
of apartheid, that is, separate but unequal development between black and
white people. The apartheid system used a host of legislation to deprive
black people of their humanity and fundamental human rights.

In 1955, the
one and only genuine Congress of the People led by the ANC responded by
adopting the freedom Charter which negated the inhuman Apartheid system and
offered a constitutional vision, after a thorough consultation with the
people, and presented a blueprint for a post-Apartheid South Africa.
Henceforth, there were two contesting value systems in the country, that is,
the democratic values of freedom, equality and justice for all and the
inhuman apartheid values which reduced black people to sub human beings.

The banning of the Communist Party of South Africa in the early fifties,
and the ANC and the PAC in the early sixties was recognition by the
apartheid authorities that human and progressive values were occupying a
high moral ground. The banning of these people's organisations did not deter
people from their struggles.

The vision of the new South Africa embodied in
the Freedom Charter dealt a deadly blow to the white supremacist ideology
and produced two competing value systems in the Country. The host of
repressive legislation used to suppress the progressive values contained in
the freedom charter and the banning of political organisations such as the
ANC, PAC and SACP led to armed resistance against the inhuman Apartheid
System.

The 1976 Soweto uprising and the mushrooming of mass democratic
organisations during the first half of the eighties testifies eloquently
that the struggle against apartheid was essentially the war about
values.

Addressing the ANC consultative conference in Kabwe on the 16 June
1985, OR Tambo characterized this war of values as follows: "The conviction
that to be white was to be a missionary of civilisation has given birth to a
tidal wave whose strength will not abate until civilisation in our country
is reckoned in the language of freedom and democracy. The pursuit of the
certainties of a bygone age has itself become the gravedigger of fond hopes
that injustice could be rationalized into a system of thought, implemented
as a practice and imposed as a decree and be accepted by the victims of that
injustice. Illusions closely held for many a year, that white minority rule
would last (until) eternity, are stalking all the enclaves of white South
Africa, proclaiming everywhere that, in fact, they are illusions, fleeting
shadows without substance. The Apartheid System is in Crisis."

Therefore,
President Jacob Zuma correctly observed that the release of our icon, Nelson
Mandela was brought about by the resolute struggles of our people. It was
these struggles that forced PW Botha and his colleagues to initiate talks
about talks. However, the President correctly acknowledged Botha's
contribution in this regard.

Before acknowledging other people's
contribution, it is fitting to highlight that OR Tambo effectively laid the
foundation for this country to become a shining example of freedom, equality
and democracy and enabled humanity to achieve victory over inhumanity. Under
the leadership of OR Tambo, the ANC realized that PW Botha was not yet ready
for genuine negotiations as was evident in Botha's Rubicon speech which
called for a new constitutional dispensation based on group rights rather
than human and people's rights.

The ANC interacted with various
progressive lawyers and facilitated the establishment of the National
Association of Democratic Lawyers (Nadel) which promoted human and peoples
rights and vehemently opposed the group rights ideology. On the 1st May
1986, conservative and progressive lawyers faced each other at the
University of Pretoria where the human and peoples rights concepts surfaced
for the first time in the constitutional discourse.

The conflict between
group and human rights played itself out at this conference. The human
rights perspective of the progressive lawyers that surfaced at this
conference found expression in the ANC 1987 statement on the question of
negotiations which rejected group rights and secret negotiations. In the
same year, the Arusha conference called The World to United Against
Apartheid reaffirmed that the Pretoria regime was both illegal and
illegitimate because it was not based on the will of the people.

By 1989,
the resolute struggles of the people convinced the ANC leadership that the
nationalist party government had no option but to negotiate. Thus in 1989
the ANC published the constitutional guidelines for a democratic South
Africa whilst OR Tambo championed the formulation of the Harare Declaration
which set out the objectives and management of the negotiation process.

President Jacob Zuma correctly pointed out that it was the resolute
struggles pf the people and the outstanding leadership, foresight and
clarity of vision of OR Tambo that laid the groundwork for the historic
announcements by President FW de Klerk, 20 years ago.

3. Nation building,
social cohesion and moral regeneration

In the spirit of nation building and
social cohesion, President Zuma has acknowledged all those who contributed
to the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners. These
include former political prisoners, the legal team in the Rivonia Treason
Trial, the international community, Helen Susman and Mtwana waka Phinda
Ngene, Honourable Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Upon his release, Nelson Mandela
recognized and acknowledged the tireless and heroic sacrifices of the people
and therefore committed himself to serve the people.

President Jacob
Zuma's call for Parliament and the nation to recommit itself to build a
better future for all South Africans, black and white, in pursuit of the
ideal that Madiba has fought for in his entire life, the ideal of a
democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony
and with equal opportunities, bears testimony to the fact that the Zuma
Presidency is fully anchored on the values that Madiba embodies, espouses
and epitomizes.

In this regard, we wish to commend President Jacob Zuma
for being consistent because, since his first State of the Nation Address in
2009, the President linked the recovery of the humanity of all South
Africans with the creation of decent jobs, provision of quality health and
education, rural development and the fight against crime and corruption. The
practical measures announced during his 2010 SONA show that the President
has a clear and pragmatic plan to improve the quality of life of all South
Africans.

As we did in 2009, we will celebrate July as the Nelson Mandela
month through a series of community activities aimed at helping the needs
and the poor in the spirit of Ubuntu and its inherent values as embodied by
Nelson Mandela as well as the past and current leaders of the ANC.

The ANC
leadership called for an overarching value system that can unite all the
people regardless of race, class and gender. In this regard, we have also
committed ourselves to strive for the creation of a non-racial, non-sexist,
united democratic and prosperous society in which the value of all citizens
is measured by their common humanity (Ubuntu/Botho). However, we recognize
and respect the cultural, religious and linguistic diversity of our people
and shun all attempts to impose the values of one group onto others.

The
common humanity of all South African has provided a framework for an
overarching value system. President Jacob Zuma has already committed his
administration to build a new South Africa based on Ubuntu/Botho values and
principles.

This vision found support in the meetings of multi-party
leader's forum where leaders of political parties called on the President to
find a common ground and platform for nation building, social cohesion and
moral regeneration. The leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party, Hon Mangosuthu
Buthelezi shared the President's vision in his response to the 2009 state of
the nation address. Honourable Buthelezi observed that the national
celebrations of historic importance are mostly attended by African people
from the townships and villages. He suggested that we should follow an
inclusive approach on nation building and social cohesion.

The multi-party
Chief Whips Forum anonymously endorsed the inclusive approach to nation
building and identified two already existing mechanisms for its realization.
These mechanisms are the Parliamentary Millennium Programmed (PMP) and the
Parliamentary Interfaith Group (PIG). These mechanisms will be resourced by
Parliament to enable all political parties to assume joint responsibility
for moral regeneration, nation building and social cohesion.

The President
has often called on all Political parties to identify national issues around
which we should co-operate in our quest for nation building and social
cohesion. We believe that the PMP and PIG offer appropriate platforms for
these purposes.

We have identified the need to incorporate the views of the
electorate in the legislative and oversight business of Parliament as a
strategic objective for the 4th Parliament by providing a platform for
schools, tertiary institutions and rural communities. Parliament, as a
nation-building institution must provide an opportunity for the electorate
to engage and consider issues on democracy, heritage, education,
nation-building, social cohesion, service delivery and moral regeneration as
well as international relations and co-operation

The PMP should be a
non-partisan project resourced by Parliament and should be used as a vehicle
to take Parliament to the people. The project would allow members to
co-operate more regularly on constituency work despite their political
affiliations. The PMP will therefore cement and give effect to the concept
an Activist Parliament at a multiparty level.

Since 1994, a Parliamentary
religious group existed and often received support from Parliament without
formal recognition.

The support of all political parties for the
President's call for the recovery of the humanity of all South African, both
black and white, and the promotion of moral regeneration for social
development reawakened interest in the place of religion and politics. Thus
the multi-party chief whips forum decided to revive the Parliamentary
religious group and to rename in Parliamentary Interfaith Group (PIG).

The
group has already forged ties with the National Interfaith Leaders Council
(NILC) and has affiliated to the Interfaith Action for Peace in Africa
(IFAPA). The two organizations, together with the ANC Commission have just
met the Sudanese Inter-religious Council which has invited them to visit the
Sudan before National elections. The PIG and PMP are destined to play a
critical role in the promotion of nation building, social cohesion and the
African Agenda.

4. The character and role of the fourth democratic
Parliament

The African National Congress as the Majority Party in
Parliament has began this year fully rejuvenated and ready to continue
intensifying the implementation of the programmes with which it has entered
into contract with our people during the current term of government.

We are
encouraged by the message of the President to the people, which reflects a
caring government that endeavours to improve the material conditions of our
people, particularly the poor.

Last year we committed ourselves to what we
call an Activist Parliament during this five year term of Parliament.
Practically, what this means is that as the majority Party in this
institution, we shall work with more resoluteness, vigour and decisiveness
in the course of executing our duties within both Parliament and
Constituencies.

During this particular year that we celebrate the 20th
Anniversary of the release of former President Nelson Mandela and other
political prisoners as well as the unbanning of liberation movements, we
shall spare neither strength nor energy to ensure the objectives of our
glorious liberation struggles are brought into practical reality.

We will
indeed move with the necessary speed, employing extraordinary and unusual
means, to roll back the frontiers of poverty and underdevelopment,
joblessness and other social ills faced by the majority of our people. This
we shall do while building on the many gains South African achieved since
the dawn of democracy 16 years ago.

In this regard, constituency outreach
programmes and intensified parliamentary oversight - which are the very
backbone of the activist Parliament - shall be the prominent and central
strategic feature of the work of each of our Members of Parliament.

The ANC
NEC Lekgotla resolved that deployees of our movement at all levels of
government will be subjected to a rigorous performance assessment system to
ensure that nothing impedes our drive towards achieving the goals our people
have set for us. ANC MPs will therefore be of no exception in this process.
Performance assessment, monitoring and evaluation of our work as MPs, will
ensure that, as the President said in his State of the Nation Address, as
public representatives we know where our people live, understands their
needs, and are in a better position to respond faster.

Our MPs will be
visible amongst the communities, be in sync with the mood of the people, and
be able to predict potential explosion of protests for rapid strategic
intervention. We must make service delivery protests a thing of the
past.

When we began with an activist Parliament in 2009, we committed
ourselves to amongst others, hold the Executive to account without fear or
favour. We will closely monitor the department's implementation of the
programmes of government aimed at improving the lives of our people and
ensure that we act where necessary. In this regard, there shall be no space
or place for sweetheart questions. ANC MPs must and will close the space for
opposition's grandstanding through an intensified and yet constructive
oversight on the Members of the Executive.

Our Parliamentary Constituency
Program will serve as a springboard through which we are able to reach out
to our people in all corners of our country, including the far-flung and
remote rural areas. We have moved swiftly to capacitate our Constituency
Coordination Section within the Caucus to ensure that our MPs are provided
with strategic support in the course of conducting their work within the
communities they represent.

Our drive to transform our Constituency
Offices across the country into One-Stop Centres, in which public
representatives from all the three spheres of government will be accessible
under one roof, is on course. Consistent with the principle of working
together with our people, we will intensify partnerships with a wide range
of stakeholders, including faith-based formations, NGOs, civil society,
private sector, traditional leaders, traditional healers and ordinary
members of the community.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, the ANC as the
Majority Party in Parliament welcomes the government's programme of action
for this current financial year as outlined in President Zuma's State of the
Nation Address. We affirm our commitment to ensuring that the entire plan of
action, the comprehensive details of which shall be practically expressed
through departmental programmes at a later stage, is translated into
tangible results.