Date: 13/06/2003
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: Mahlangu: Cleansing, healing & symbolic reparations ceremony
ADDRESS BY THE PREMIER OF MPUMALANGA, MR NJ MAHLANGU, AT THE OCCASION OF THE CLEANSING, HEALING AND SYMBOLIC REPARATIONS CEREMONY, Government Complex, 13 June 2003
Master of Ceremonies
Honourable MECs
Honourable MPLs
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
As I sat here looking at the diverse crowd gathered here today, and listening to the background and purpose of this ceremony, I was left in no doubt that indeed we are a people united in working for change. We have begun to emerge into a nation confident of itself, aware of its immense possibilities.
A people prepared to do extra-ordinary things to attain the goal that comes from creating a better quality of life for all.
It is poignant that we gather here today in this fashion on the eve of such an important day in the history of the youth and that of our country. On Monday at the Jan van Riebeeck Stadium in Witbank we will be celebrating Youth Day - a day when we will commemorate the sacrifices that our young people made to ensure that we attain freedom.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here as descendants of those brave warriors who traversed these plains to begin a journey of telling the South African story. A story of conquest, resistance, triumph, freedom and democracy. Indeed it must be a story of how we as a people triumphed over racism, bigotry and economic inequality to usher in a non-racial, non-sexist democracy.
I believe that all of us here today, and many of our people throughout the province, are one in declaring that as we begin telling the story, we declare to all that "never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another".
Indeed we are also gathered to celebrate the achievements of all our people as they continue to make a difference towards the creation of a transformed society based on the basic principles of non-racialism, non-sexism and democracy. To paraphrase former President Nelson Mandela, we must ensure that out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.
As we pay homage to all the heroes and heroines in this province, country and the rest of the world who sacrificed in many ways and surrendered their lives so that we could be free, let us at the same time assert the humanity of persons one to the other. To seek unity and reconciliation and to set shoulders to the wheel in building a better life for all.
The province and the country - with your help - needs to come to a proper understanding of our history, which has been most grievously affected by the ravages and distortions of apartheid and colonialism.
The victory that we have scored against apartheid has laid the firm basis for all the people of South Africa to unite across colour, language, ethnic and religious barriers. It has launched us on the course of realising our true potential. History is full of epochs of endeavours to free humanity from the constrains of nature, from socio-economic backwardness and political oppression.
Many technological advances have been made over thousands of years so that humanity can be freed from poverty, underdevelopment and illnesses. The trees that we will be planting today, the soil that we will be sprinkling here and the verdite rock must all go towards building that Freedom Park that will take pride of place in our country and in our hearts.
A Park that will relate the past and the present, while providing hope of a future where no person would ever again be subjected to the inhumanity of the recent past. Indeed that Park must tell the story of how indigenous people lost their land, livestock and freedom under both Dutch and British colonialism. It must tell the story of the heroic resistance of the native people of South Africa.
Singing glorious songs about Shaka, Mswati, Nyabela, Sekhukhune, Makana, Moshoeshoe, Ramabulana and many other icons of resistance against colonialism. The Park must be able to put what our conquerors call the wars of expansion into proper perspective.
It must tell how the Swazi nation was driven from their land, how the Ndebele nation was brutally destroyed and how our people in KwaNdebele and Moutse dared death while resisting sham independence. The Park must tell how Afrikaner women and children in the concentration camps were inhumanly treated.
But also tell the true story that many blacks who were incarcerated during that war suffered a fate worse than death itself. We must do this so that all of us can learn about the futility of war.
Ladies and gentlemen, above all, this Park must begin to capture the true story of our struggle for freedom. It must capture the struggles around land, workers' struggles and different stages of union organisation, the various phases of mass mobilisation - peaceful petitions, deputations, peaceful protests, passive resistance, defiance campaign to armed resistance - all these must be incorporated in the freedom Park.
When we have done this, we should then appreciate our country, its people, their diversity and their determination to build a united nation with common vision, aspirations and goals.
But ultimately Freedom Park must help us to heal the divisions of the past and work for reconciliation.
As we will all agree, real healing and genuine reconciliation will only come about when we have told the entire story of why we became antagonists in the first place. It is on this basis that we should not, in trying to deal with the divisions of the past, sweep some matters under the carpet.
Finally, Ladies and gentlemen, as we celebrate our story today our priorities must bring an end to the poverty of our people. Indeed this African Century must be one in which the divisions of the past must truly cease to exist. As we reconstruct Mpumalanga and reclaim the whole country for all, we break down all the divisions and attitudes of the past. We do so while freeing everyone form the last vestiges of oppression. Freeing everyone from hunger, disease and want.
It is our task to make the most of our freedom, to entrench it in our new epoch as a fundamental and a permanent feature of our very existence. The challenges facing all of us are to contribute to a complete and rounded picture of the celebration of our heritage.
Certainly that complete and rounded perspective cannot be contained only in political speeches, song, dance, and poetry and in the construction of monuments.
The challenge to all of us is to ensure that we celebrate in all our languages.
We must develop a way in which our languages can, through the process, further grow and flourish.
So that our experience can be recorded in many different ways, many different voices.
Contributing to a national convention without anyone of us feeling we are not of the collective experience.
These celebrations, this FREEDOM PARK must add value to our task of forging our nationhood. It should help us to display to other nations of the world, as well as to ourselves, our capacity to give humanity what is proudly the product of the composite effort of all our people.
We need, as a nation; to take stock of what we have accomplished and what still needs to be done in preserving our heritage and rewriting our history. Our success as a nation depends, in no small measures on the conservation of our heritage sites and the preservation of our culture similar to what we are doing today. It demands conditions in which every sector of society can join hands to make a unique treasure accessible to our nation and its visitors, and to ensure that future generations will have the same privilege.
Let us all become part of a living monument in celebration of life.
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, in partnership with all sectors of society, we must continue to give absolute priority to HIV/AIDS programmes. We must continue to mobilise popular awareness of the seriousness of the epidemic. All of us must realise that the epidemic is not only a health issue, but also an economic one.
As we gather to reclaim our past, let me call upon all the people - Traditional leaders, councillors, traditional healers, Religious leaders of all faiths; the civic movement; the labour movement, the moral regeneration movement, the youth, women people with disabilities, political parties and organisations - in fact all of us - to work together in order to push back the frontiers of poverty.
Let us roll up our sleeves and get down to work.
Thank you
Issued by Mpumalanga Provincial Government
13 June 2003
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: Mahlangu: Cleansing, healing & symbolic reparations ceremony
ADDRESS BY THE PREMIER OF MPUMALANGA, MR NJ MAHLANGU, AT THE OCCASION OF THE CLEANSING, HEALING AND SYMBOLIC REPARATIONS CEREMONY, Government Complex, 13 June 2003
Master of Ceremonies
Honourable MECs
Honourable MPLs
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
As I sat here looking at the diverse crowd gathered here today, and listening to the background and purpose of this ceremony, I was left in no doubt that indeed we are a people united in working for change. We have begun to emerge into a nation confident of itself, aware of its immense possibilities.
A people prepared to do extra-ordinary things to attain the goal that comes from creating a better quality of life for all.
It is poignant that we gather here today in this fashion on the eve of such an important day in the history of the youth and that of our country. On Monday at the Jan van Riebeeck Stadium in Witbank we will be celebrating Youth Day - a day when we will commemorate the sacrifices that our young people made to ensure that we attain freedom.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here as descendants of those brave warriors who traversed these plains to begin a journey of telling the South African story. A story of conquest, resistance, triumph, freedom and democracy. Indeed it must be a story of how we as a people triumphed over racism, bigotry and economic inequality to usher in a non-racial, non-sexist democracy.
I believe that all of us here today, and many of our people throughout the province, are one in declaring that as we begin telling the story, we declare to all that "never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another".
Indeed we are also gathered to celebrate the achievements of all our people as they continue to make a difference towards the creation of a transformed society based on the basic principles of non-racialism, non-sexism and democracy. To paraphrase former President Nelson Mandela, we must ensure that out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.
As we pay homage to all the heroes and heroines in this province, country and the rest of the world who sacrificed in many ways and surrendered their lives so that we could be free, let us at the same time assert the humanity of persons one to the other. To seek unity and reconciliation and to set shoulders to the wheel in building a better life for all.
The province and the country - with your help - needs to come to a proper understanding of our history, which has been most grievously affected by the ravages and distortions of apartheid and colonialism.
The victory that we have scored against apartheid has laid the firm basis for all the people of South Africa to unite across colour, language, ethnic and religious barriers. It has launched us on the course of realising our true potential. History is full of epochs of endeavours to free humanity from the constrains of nature, from socio-economic backwardness and political oppression.
Many technological advances have been made over thousands of years so that humanity can be freed from poverty, underdevelopment and illnesses. The trees that we will be planting today, the soil that we will be sprinkling here and the verdite rock must all go towards building that Freedom Park that will take pride of place in our country and in our hearts.
A Park that will relate the past and the present, while providing hope of a future where no person would ever again be subjected to the inhumanity of the recent past. Indeed that Park must tell the story of how indigenous people lost their land, livestock and freedom under both Dutch and British colonialism. It must tell the story of the heroic resistance of the native people of South Africa.
Singing glorious songs about Shaka, Mswati, Nyabela, Sekhukhune, Makana, Moshoeshoe, Ramabulana and many other icons of resistance against colonialism. The Park must be able to put what our conquerors call the wars of expansion into proper perspective.
It must tell how the Swazi nation was driven from their land, how the Ndebele nation was brutally destroyed and how our people in KwaNdebele and Moutse dared death while resisting sham independence. The Park must tell how Afrikaner women and children in the concentration camps were inhumanly treated.
But also tell the true story that many blacks who were incarcerated during that war suffered a fate worse than death itself. We must do this so that all of us can learn about the futility of war.
Ladies and gentlemen, above all, this Park must begin to capture the true story of our struggle for freedom. It must capture the struggles around land, workers' struggles and different stages of union organisation, the various phases of mass mobilisation - peaceful petitions, deputations, peaceful protests, passive resistance, defiance campaign to armed resistance - all these must be incorporated in the freedom Park.
When we have done this, we should then appreciate our country, its people, their diversity and their determination to build a united nation with common vision, aspirations and goals.
But ultimately Freedom Park must help us to heal the divisions of the past and work for reconciliation.
As we will all agree, real healing and genuine reconciliation will only come about when we have told the entire story of why we became antagonists in the first place. It is on this basis that we should not, in trying to deal with the divisions of the past, sweep some matters under the carpet.
Finally, Ladies and gentlemen, as we celebrate our story today our priorities must bring an end to the poverty of our people. Indeed this African Century must be one in which the divisions of the past must truly cease to exist. As we reconstruct Mpumalanga and reclaim the whole country for all, we break down all the divisions and attitudes of the past. We do so while freeing everyone form the last vestiges of oppression. Freeing everyone from hunger, disease and want.
It is our task to make the most of our freedom, to entrench it in our new epoch as a fundamental and a permanent feature of our very existence. The challenges facing all of us are to contribute to a complete and rounded picture of the celebration of our heritage.
Certainly that complete and rounded perspective cannot be contained only in political speeches, song, dance, and poetry and in the construction of monuments.
The challenge to all of us is to ensure that we celebrate in all our languages.
We must develop a way in which our languages can, through the process, further grow and flourish.
So that our experience can be recorded in many different ways, many different voices.
Contributing to a national convention without anyone of us feeling we are not of the collective experience.
These celebrations, this FREEDOM PARK must add value to our task of forging our nationhood. It should help us to display to other nations of the world, as well as to ourselves, our capacity to give humanity what is proudly the product of the composite effort of all our people.
We need, as a nation; to take stock of what we have accomplished and what still needs to be done in preserving our heritage and rewriting our history. Our success as a nation depends, in no small measures on the conservation of our heritage sites and the preservation of our culture similar to what we are doing today. It demands conditions in which every sector of society can join hands to make a unique treasure accessible to our nation and its visitors, and to ensure that future generations will have the same privilege.
Let us all become part of a living monument in celebration of life.
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, in partnership with all sectors of society, we must continue to give absolute priority to HIV/AIDS programmes. We must continue to mobilise popular awareness of the seriousness of the epidemic. All of us must realise that the epidemic is not only a health issue, but also an economic one.
As we gather to reclaim our past, let me call upon all the people - Traditional leaders, councillors, traditional healers, Religious leaders of all faiths; the civic movement; the labour movement, the moral regeneration movement, the youth, women people with disabilities, political parties and organisations - in fact all of us - to work together in order to push back the frontiers of poverty.
Let us roll up our sleeves and get down to work.
Thank you
Issued by Mpumalanga Provincial Government
13 June 2003
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