Date: 12/09/2006
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial
Title: Ndebele: 119th anniversary of the Divine Life Society


Speech by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sibusiso Ndebele at the 119th anniversary of the Divine Life Society

Honourable Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad
His Holiness, Sri Swami Sahajanda
Ethkewini Mayor, His Worship Obed Mlaba Worshippers
Ladies and gentlemen

Namaste, Vanekom

Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to be here to celebrate the 119th anniversary of the Divine Life Society. The work by the Society to the moral, education and spiritual upliftment of all communities of this country, especially of this province, is highly appreciated. This Society has already made clear and vivid footprints for the past five decades in the service of the poorest of the poor in this country, especially in this province.

Striving for Satyagraha

Today Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of Satyragaha are being lived out in the work the esteemed Sri Swami Sahajanda and his followers who carry out development work in our communities.

Satyagraha is a form of community development and self-improvement and when employed by the Mahatma it was not only used for passive resistance and disobedience to the oppressor, but as a mechanism about how to develop the community and how to make people self-sufficient. And that is what the Divine Life Society is about today. This esteemed organisation has built schools, houses and other forms of infrastructure for community empowerment. It has taken the word of Satyagraha and given true meaning to it: to build the nation from the bottom up. Even in the way you have propagated your religion you have emphasised the humanity of your religion and selflessness.

During this year, the provincial government is paying homage to our heroes of the past including Mahatma Gandhi, Inkosi Albert Luthuli, John Dube and Inkosi Bhambatha, heroes of peace, development and fighters of oppression. And we have commemorated their lives and their principles with several heritage programmes celebrated throughout this year.

The Divine life is truly an incredible inspiration to us as human being and given life to Satyagraha 100 years on.

At the end of the month, as we in the Provincial Government celebrate the 100 years anniversary of Satyagraha, we will have on our shores the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh and a delegation of over 100 people who will visit Durban and South Africa at the invitation of President Thabo Mbeki.

Divine intervention

I am glad that the Divine Life Society of South Africa had heeded our call and put itself firmly behind our campaign to create prosperous, peaceful and just KwaZulu-Natal. Our participation is a sign of the partnership our government has with this Society. However, this partnership with the Divine Life Society does not begin today. Over the past year for example, this society donated about R60 million towards community uplifting projects in our province. This includes the 600 classrooms in poor and rural areas, to whose construction this society contributed. We remain eternally grateful to the society and its leadership for such selfless acts.

As a man of God who serves our country through the Grace of His Master Sri Swami Sivananda is a humble person and always wishes to remain an unsung hero.

It is worth acknowledging that Swami Sahajananda has dedicated his life to serve the poorest of the poor people in our country for the past 55 years. Even now at his present age of 81 years, he still continues to devote his energy and efforts towards peace and development of our people in our country. His notion of people is simple and easy to demonstrate. Your contribution of over 250 projects ranging from educational, social health, religious, literature distribution and peace centres is worth high praise.

The Divine Life Society has been working in partnership with the Office of the Premier and the Provincial Government in the past decade. Together, we have completed over 281 projects, including:

* 263 houses being built at Parkgate
* Peace and Skills Training Centres in Ezingolweni and Ntambanana
* Peace Booklet s which is in English and Zulu and which will be distributed to all schools.

It is highly impressive to also mention here that Swami Sahajananda, as a Leader of Divine Life Society of South Africa, is dedicated and fully committed to serving humankind irrespective of colour, creed and/or religious affiliation. If we are to bring about a new dawn for our province, we need to learn from example of the Swami. There is no room for pettiness or bickering amongst religious organizations while our people live in dire poverty. We need to cast aside our prejudices and come together as religious formations, united in our action to turn the fortunes of our province around. We can achieve this while still remaining distinct religious organizations.

Public Private Partnerships

We cannot go it alone towards development of this province. The establishment of joint ventures with community organisations, traditional businesses, black businesses as well as technology and skills transfer has many benefits.

If we forge partnerships such as these we encourage others to work with the government to invest in infrastructure to eliminate service backlogs in under-serviced areas, especially the black townships and rural areas, in order to meet our people's basic needs.

Basic infrastructure services can also reduce poverty and contribute to job creation. Through the various public works programmes government has over the last few years ensured that the provision of infrastructure takes place in a manner that enhances job opportunities for the unemployed, especially women.

We can only build our province together with our communities and this will enhance service delivery and a better life for all. The people of this province salute the Divine Life Society for their divine intervention towards development.

Thank you

Issued by: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial
12 September 2006