Date: 26/07/2003
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: Mahlangu: Renaming of Kwamhlanga Stadium
SPEECH BY PREMIER NJ MAHLANGU, AT THE RENAMING OF THE KWAMHLANGA STADIUM, Kwamhlanga, Saturday, 26 July 2003
Programme Director
Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour
Members of the Provincial Executive
His worship Executive Mayor SOPD Skosana
Family members and friends of the late Solomon Mahlangu
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
We are gathered here today to pay homage to a true combatant, a proud descendant of the warrior men and women that King Nyabela, Shaka and Sekhukhune led.
Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu.
You will remember that on 2 March 1978 Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu was sentenced to death. As the death sentence was passed he raised his clenched fist and shouted the ANC slogan 'Amandla'.
Thirteen months later on 6 April 1979, Solomon Mahlangu was executed.
He went to the gallows courageously and confidently.
His confidence was born out of the fact that he knew that the freedom-loving people of South Africa - whom he loved and served - were behind him.
He also knew that he had that rare privilege to belong to that group of people for whom all else, including their own lives, was not more important than the freedom of their people.
Solomon Mahlangu went to the gallows defiantly because he so loved his people he was ready to lay down his own if this would bring your freedom and mine closer.
Mam' uMahlangu only supreme love for your people could have driven Kalushi to such heroic feats of struggle.
But let us pause and find out why the Apartheid regime thought it was necessary to hang Solomon Mahlangu.
That's what they thought. The execution of Solomon Mahlangu was not just another case of murder by the apartheid regime - a regime that had shocked the world by its indiscriminate and cowardly killing of school children and unarmed refugees. It was a calculated act of "judicial murder".
A murder aimed at instilling fear into all those who cherished freedom.
They believed our people would cringe and cower in fear at the mere mention of the word freedom, the ANC or the People's Army Umkhonto we Sizwe.
That plan backfired horribly. In true prophetic fashion his blood nourished the seeds of freedom, which brought us to where we are today.
Indeed it was that heroic act of taking up arms in defence of the people's freedom, land and dignity that gave impetus to Solomon Mahlangu to make the choice to fight rather than submit.
As we celebrate the heroic act of that grandchild of the patriots that Cetshwayo and Mphephu took to battle, indeed an offspring of the soldiers Moshoeshoe and Ngungunyane taught never to dishonour the cause of freedom - let us look how far we have travelled since the 1994 democratic elections.
Remember that it was through organisation, solidarity and tireless struggle that we as South Africans achieved the democratic breakthrough of 27 April 1994.
The coming of the new democratically elected government in 1994 ushered in an era in which the ANC-led government was able to begin building the foundations of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society.
Its ultimate goal is to uplift the quality of life of all the people of the province, especially the poor.
Together with the people the ANC-led government has worked since 1994 to improve the quality of life of the people.
It is continuously addressing the inequalities in the education system, working to provide on a sustainable basis free basic water and electricity to all the needy people of the province, providing free health care to infant children and pregnant women.
Even with these achievements much more needs to be done.
The freedom won on 27 April 1994, and the achievements of the last nine years, form the foundation of a better future.
But the struggle will not end until the promise of dignity and freedom from poverty, malnutrition and disease has been realised by all South Africans.
Not that we have not done a lot in the past nine years. With regard both to changing the lives of the people of the province, we have achieved a lot.
Our task is to accelerate the pace of change so that everyone can benefit from our democratic dispensation.
This will require hard work. It will need a different kind of struggle and thus a new kind of cadre.
It is an army of reconstruction and development cadres.
Like those brave women and men who founded, joined and volunteered for Umkhonto we Sizwe, I urge u to join this army as disciplined cadres of Kalushi Mahlangu.
We have no doubt that our policies have been and are a correct response to the practical reality we inherited.
The changes taking place in our country attests to this. The lives of our people are changing for the better.
Gradually we are moving away from the entrenched racial, gender and spatial rigidities of the past.
Our economy is demonstrating a resilience and dynamism that is the envy of many across the world.
But challenges remain. Today, the greatest challenge facing the youth of the province and the country is that unemployment, lack of skills and lack of opportunities for entrepreneurial development.
It no longer matters that one has a university degree or technikon diploma, unemployment spares no one among the youth in today.
I would like to see you being in the forefront of the process of transformation of our economy.
As we are in the 21st century, our economy and indeed the whole country requires of you to equip yourselves with requisite skills which will enable you to compete in the labour market.
Something else. I know that the youth of this country and province has not been found wanting.
They have always matched the tasks and challenges of the day.
You will agree with me when I say people who are most affected by the high rate of unemployment are our young people.
The problem of homelessness, high drop out rate, substance and drug abuse, HIV and AIDS victims and crime mainly affect the youth.
HIV/AIDS is among us. It is real. It is spreading. We can only win against HIV/AIDS if we join hands to save our nation.
For too long we have closed our eyes as a nation, hoping the truth was not so real.
We have seen that preventing HIV infection needs more than lip service.
It needs more than piecemeal approaches and once-off activities.
We ask today's youth to take and bear primary responsibility for their lifestyles.
It is not only HIV/AIDS that we must defeat, but also other diseases of sexual transmission as well as the prevalence of teenage parenthood.
In this regard, we urge all of you to stand behind the government and support it in every manner possible.
The power to defeat the spread of HIV and AIDS lies in our hands.
Working together, South Africans have won the right and the opportunity to decide their own future.
Since 1994, the ANC-led government has worked hard to create opportunities that never existed before, to provide services to meet people' s basic needs, and to provide relief to the many of our people who still live in poverty.
But without an ID book, many of these opportunities remain out of reach.
These small green books allow you to access many of the opportunities which democracy has brought.
With an ID book you can open the doors to a better future.
With an ID book, people can access financial help.
They can open bank accounts, apply for loans and enter into contracts.
They can apply for a passport and travel to other countries.
With an ID book, people can decide how the country is run.
They need an ID book to register to vote and exercise their democratic right to choose a government of your choice.
Go out there and get that book. And hey, remember to VOTE CORRECTLY.
In conclusion, Programme Director, I have been given another task. But this one is easier.
To introduce to you a person who is well known to all of you.
Let me now introduce to you a person who needs no introduction.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me present our guest speaker today, the Minister of Sport and Recreation of the Republic of South Africa, Comrade Ngconde Balfour.
I thank you.
Issued by Mpumalanga Provincial Government
26 July 2003
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: Mahlangu: Renaming of Kwamhlanga Stadium
SPEECH BY PREMIER NJ MAHLANGU, AT THE RENAMING OF THE KWAMHLANGA STADIUM, Kwamhlanga, Saturday, 26 July 2003
Programme Director
Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour
Members of the Provincial Executive
His worship Executive Mayor SOPD Skosana
Family members and friends of the late Solomon Mahlangu
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
We are gathered here today to pay homage to a true combatant, a proud descendant of the warrior men and women that King Nyabela, Shaka and Sekhukhune led.
Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu.
You will remember that on 2 March 1978 Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu was sentenced to death. As the death sentence was passed he raised his clenched fist and shouted the ANC slogan 'Amandla'.
Thirteen months later on 6 April 1979, Solomon Mahlangu was executed.
He went to the gallows courageously and confidently.
His confidence was born out of the fact that he knew that the freedom-loving people of South Africa - whom he loved and served - were behind him.
He also knew that he had that rare privilege to belong to that group of people for whom all else, including their own lives, was not more important than the freedom of their people.
Solomon Mahlangu went to the gallows defiantly because he so loved his people he was ready to lay down his own if this would bring your freedom and mine closer.
Mam' uMahlangu only supreme love for your people could have driven Kalushi to such heroic feats of struggle.
But let us pause and find out why the Apartheid regime thought it was necessary to hang Solomon Mahlangu.
That's what they thought. The execution of Solomon Mahlangu was not just another case of murder by the apartheid regime - a regime that had shocked the world by its indiscriminate and cowardly killing of school children and unarmed refugees. It was a calculated act of "judicial murder".
A murder aimed at instilling fear into all those who cherished freedom.
They believed our people would cringe and cower in fear at the mere mention of the word freedom, the ANC or the People's Army Umkhonto we Sizwe.
That plan backfired horribly. In true prophetic fashion his blood nourished the seeds of freedom, which brought us to where we are today.
Indeed it was that heroic act of taking up arms in defence of the people's freedom, land and dignity that gave impetus to Solomon Mahlangu to make the choice to fight rather than submit.
As we celebrate the heroic act of that grandchild of the patriots that Cetshwayo and Mphephu took to battle, indeed an offspring of the soldiers Moshoeshoe and Ngungunyane taught never to dishonour the cause of freedom - let us look how far we have travelled since the 1994 democratic elections.
Remember that it was through organisation, solidarity and tireless struggle that we as South Africans achieved the democratic breakthrough of 27 April 1994.
The coming of the new democratically elected government in 1994 ushered in an era in which the ANC-led government was able to begin building the foundations of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society.
Its ultimate goal is to uplift the quality of life of all the people of the province, especially the poor.
Together with the people the ANC-led government has worked since 1994 to improve the quality of life of the people.
It is continuously addressing the inequalities in the education system, working to provide on a sustainable basis free basic water and electricity to all the needy people of the province, providing free health care to infant children and pregnant women.
Even with these achievements much more needs to be done.
The freedom won on 27 April 1994, and the achievements of the last nine years, form the foundation of a better future.
But the struggle will not end until the promise of dignity and freedom from poverty, malnutrition and disease has been realised by all South Africans.
Not that we have not done a lot in the past nine years. With regard both to changing the lives of the people of the province, we have achieved a lot.
Our task is to accelerate the pace of change so that everyone can benefit from our democratic dispensation.
This will require hard work. It will need a different kind of struggle and thus a new kind of cadre.
It is an army of reconstruction and development cadres.
Like those brave women and men who founded, joined and volunteered for Umkhonto we Sizwe, I urge u to join this army as disciplined cadres of Kalushi Mahlangu.
We have no doubt that our policies have been and are a correct response to the practical reality we inherited.
The changes taking place in our country attests to this. The lives of our people are changing for the better.
Gradually we are moving away from the entrenched racial, gender and spatial rigidities of the past.
Our economy is demonstrating a resilience and dynamism that is the envy of many across the world.
But challenges remain. Today, the greatest challenge facing the youth of the province and the country is that unemployment, lack of skills and lack of opportunities for entrepreneurial development.
It no longer matters that one has a university degree or technikon diploma, unemployment spares no one among the youth in today.
I would like to see you being in the forefront of the process of transformation of our economy.
As we are in the 21st century, our economy and indeed the whole country requires of you to equip yourselves with requisite skills which will enable you to compete in the labour market.
Something else. I know that the youth of this country and province has not been found wanting.
They have always matched the tasks and challenges of the day.
You will agree with me when I say people who are most affected by the high rate of unemployment are our young people.
The problem of homelessness, high drop out rate, substance and drug abuse, HIV and AIDS victims and crime mainly affect the youth.
HIV/AIDS is among us. It is real. It is spreading. We can only win against HIV/AIDS if we join hands to save our nation.
For too long we have closed our eyes as a nation, hoping the truth was not so real.
We have seen that preventing HIV infection needs more than lip service.
It needs more than piecemeal approaches and once-off activities.
We ask today's youth to take and bear primary responsibility for their lifestyles.
It is not only HIV/AIDS that we must defeat, but also other diseases of sexual transmission as well as the prevalence of teenage parenthood.
In this regard, we urge all of you to stand behind the government and support it in every manner possible.
The power to defeat the spread of HIV and AIDS lies in our hands.
Working together, South Africans have won the right and the opportunity to decide their own future.
Since 1994, the ANC-led government has worked hard to create opportunities that never existed before, to provide services to meet people' s basic needs, and to provide relief to the many of our people who still live in poverty.
But without an ID book, many of these opportunities remain out of reach.
These small green books allow you to access many of the opportunities which democracy has brought.
With an ID book you can open the doors to a better future.
With an ID book, people can access financial help.
They can open bank accounts, apply for loans and enter into contracts.
They can apply for a passport and travel to other countries.
With an ID book, people can decide how the country is run.
They need an ID book to register to vote and exercise their democratic right to choose a government of your choice.
Go out there and get that book. And hey, remember to VOTE CORRECTLY.
In conclusion, Programme Director, I have been given another task. But this one is easier.
To introduce to you a person who is well known to all of you.
Let me now introduce to you a person who needs no introduction.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me present our guest speaker today, the Minister of Sport and Recreation of the Republic of South Africa, Comrade Ngconde Balfour.
I thank you.
Issued by Mpumalanga Provincial Government
26 July 2003
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