The Spirit of Reconciliation must forever live on.

It’s difficult if not impossible to capture the enormous nature and contribution of Nelson Mandela to our nation.

The Hero and legend who bequeathed to us this nation, born out of the ashes of Apartheid, a Constitution out an oppressive legal framework and, ultimately, free-dom from the jail cells of Robben Island.

Words can never express the extraordinary freedom fighter that Tata is and will always be continually remembered as.

There are indeed many elements that represent, Tata.

You have to be willing to engage all, the freedom fighter, the prisoner and the President. From his varying causes of Peace and Reconciliation, the champion humanitarian who stood for the rights of others to be educated, the 46664 Madiba, the hero celebrated on Nelson Mandela day.

Speaker, in the time allocated I choose to pay respect to one of Tata’s unfinished projects, that of building a truly united and non-racist society.

A society where never and never again shall one oppress another because of the colour of their skin, a world where reconciliation and the values of freedom shall reign. Indeed, never should the sun set on such a glorious achievement.

Words that began the journey of reconciliation, a journey that is still incomplete. It was Tata who affirmed that it is not that we are free but rather that we have merely achieved the freedom to be free.

That is where we stand today – we have achieved the freedom to be free, but we are not yet free.

In his own words, he said that: “A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.”

These words are an important reminder that peaceful solutions to seemingly insurmountable conflicts can be found when we approach our fellow human beings with love and compassion rather than hatred and derision.

It is this fundamental concern for others that must guide the continuation of our efforts to build a South Africa which belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity. But it is also this ideal of peaceful reconciliation that must guide our efforts and our calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the cessation of aggression on both sides of the conflict.

In the first instance, we must protect our democracy and secondly, we should aim to export our South African lessons of reconciliation and peace rather than import aggression and division which could divide South Africans. We must not import the politics of conflict to divide our own people.

To understand reconciliation in South Africa is not simply to have rights and a constitution that belongs to all, but to further that goal by equating all citizens under the law.

That regardless of what office you hold in the land, from president to indigent, the
supreme rule of law applies to all.

We cannot be reconciled if we don't uphold the supremacy of the rule of law, and furthermore if we fail to deliver the rights guaranteed by our Constitution We, the people of South Africa, recognise the injustices of our past; honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.

It is indeed for this reason that we are failing at the project of reconciliation.

When some become corrupt and fail to comply with the very essence of the law - To be corrupt is to abandon the values of Tata.

We must indeed cherish the notion of a reconciled society by building on the ideals of economic reconciliation. This is perhaps the hardest of the projects, in a society where today still race determines your wealth, poverty and the very opportunities that are available to you.

That our history of oppression still lives on where those who earn the highest are still white, and the poorest black.

Where in fact intra-inequity races is on the rise and those living in deepening poverty are left out of economic activity - the economic outsiders. It is why the DA's call for an Open Opportunity Society, is a call for a reconciled South Africa where one day race will not be a factor in determining one’s tomorrow.

I spent my 67 minutes in Njoli Square, Nelson Mandela Bay, interacting with small business. All to say that we may be able to vote, to choose but we all deserve freedom we can use. A freedom to start small business that can ultimately be employers of people, a nation where medium enterprise will grow to become enterprises that hire more and more South Africans. This is a new freedom charter that affirms that there must be work for all. Justice and economic justice must mean that BBBEE must benefit these business, create jobs and not the benefit of a few politically connected.

We must break down the world of the included and those who are excluded. An insider-outsider economic space will force us to fight for the ever so rare opportunities that this government is able to create. Economic division where instead there should be economic reconciliation and progress.

We must Madame Speaker, seek out the best way to educate South Africans. It is not good enough that a child from Mamelodi will get an inferior education to a child in Waterkloof. The DA's pledge is to build a truly reconciled society.  Freedom must equate to choice, a freedom one can use, that gives the opportunity to choose one’s own tomorrow

This project cannot only be given lip service. This House must work hard to building on the legacy of a truly reconciled society. Yes, I do celebrate the repeal of Immoral-ity Act and many other pieces of legislation that give to opportunities for South Afri-cans to be with whomever they love.

This was a vital achievement of this House and it is possible for us to build on that spirit or else we end up turning against our own gains by pushing one another to our racial corners, to mobilise on race and to break down the nation-building spirit of South Africa.

Rhetoric such as the “Honeymoon is over for white people” engenders fears no different to the "Swart Gevaar” and fails dismally to build our great nation. The project we are engaged with is the liberation of both the oppressed and the oppressor; the ideal that together we can build the South Africa for all our children
regardless of race.

This is the reason why I appreciate the DA.

Under Suzman, it fought against apartheid and now today what a privilege it is, to work and build a party for all South Africans black or white, Indian or coloured; where we can continue the work of Mandela and Suzman; where our benches will never be benches of one race, but shall forever be benches for South Africans from all walks of life.

And they are here and will be here not because they are politically connected, but because they share a fundamental concern for others, pursuing the freedom for all to be equal under the law.

And that without fail, that our economy will provide open opportunities to all; and where we shall continue to live and strive for freedom in South Africa our land.

I thank you.