Date: 18/06/2003
Source: Deputy Ministry of Health
Title: R Schoeman: Debate on Presidency Dept Budget Vote 2003/2004
SPEECH BY RENIER SCHOEMAN MP, DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND KWAZULU-NATAL LEADER OF THE NNP, DURING THE DISCUSSION OF THE BUDGET VOTE OF PRESIDENT MBEKI IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, 18 June 2003
Madam Speaker, Hon President, Hon members
In world history there is a tendency for leaders and statesmen to become strongly associated with a specific speech of major significance which they have delivered.
So it is in our own history that a leader like Genl JBM Hertzog is thought of in terms of his "South Africa First" speech at De Wildt in 1912, and Martin Luther King was famous for his "I have a dream" oration in 1964, President Mandela is imprinted in peoples minds with his "I am prepared to die" statement from the dock at the Rivonia trial on 20 April 1964 and FW de Klerk for his "Negotiation and the New South Africa" speech on the 2nd of February 1990.
You, Mr President, in my mind and I believe in the minds of many others, are inextricably linked to your "I am an African" speech in this Parliament on 8 May 1996.
I submit that that speech is as relevant today, as it was 7 years ago, and so today I wish to give my own, subjective perspective on that speech, as to what its implications are for the political dynamic and for the political discourse in the year 2003.
For me as an African, who is also a South African, that speech says, my destiny and future is in Africa and Africa alone.
It says there is space for me, for my distinct cultural life, for my mother tongue Afrikaans, for my religion for my values and for my lifestyle, provided that I grant that same space to every single other South African.
It says that whilst being mindful of and sensitive to the pain and suffering and conflict of the past, and even of the present, I can, irrespective of my own past, play my full role in every way I can, to help build a South Africa that is a caring and worthwhile and a better place for all its people. This speech also says to me I must not only be proudly South African but I must also want this country to succeed and to play its rightful role in our continent. But I must not only want it to succeed - I must be part of an individual and a collective effort to actually make it succeed.
And so today I want to appeal to my fellow Africans, of South Africa, to take hands in this effort. To discard the self-imposed shackles of joyless negativity, of pessimism and of thinly veiled racism, prejudice and suspicion.
I also warn them against the destructive tendency to badmouth our country and our continent, and the real danger inherent in the highly sophisticated but still obvious use of the discredited "swart gevaar" tactics of old, which one particular party tries to resort to in different ways. I want to warn them that that road is a downhill cul de sac leading nowhere and it does not belong in the politics of the new South Africa.
It is as these Africans to which the Hon President Mbeki refers, that the NNP and the ANC have entered a relationship which is based on a number of shared convictions, and which continues to grow.
An important milestone on this road of co-operation was reached on 27 April 2003 when President Mbeki as President of the ANC and Marthinus van Schalkwyk, as National Leader of the NNP, signed a joint declaration in Pretoria. I merely wish to quote one or two sentences from that declaration namely: "We are inspired by the growing spirit of unity among all our people, as they work together to build a new South Africa that belongs to all who live in it. Our country has become a model for reconciliation among competing groups in a previously divided society, proving that African, White, Coloured and Indian succeed best when they work together".
It goes on, and I quote:
"At the same time, we recognize the fact that much remains to be done further to nurture this emerging spirit, which is informed by a new patriotism that acknowledges the diverse attributes and contributions of the people who constitute our nation". unquote
Madame Speaker, my submission is that this is the road of the new South Africa and I urge my fellow South Africans to join us on that road.
Precisely because it is not an easy road we can expect obstacles and even setbacks as we move along it, but we will continue along it because it is the road from here and because we as a party are utterly convinced that it is the right road for South Africa.
Issued by the Office of the Deputy Minister of Health, 18 June 2003
Source: Deputy Ministry of Health
Title: R Schoeman: Debate on Presidency Dept Budget Vote 2003/2004
SPEECH BY RENIER SCHOEMAN MP, DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH AND KWAZULU-NATAL LEADER OF THE NNP, DURING THE DISCUSSION OF THE BUDGET VOTE OF PRESIDENT MBEKI IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, 18 June 2003
Madam Speaker, Hon President, Hon members
In world history there is a tendency for leaders and statesmen to become strongly associated with a specific speech of major significance which they have delivered.
So it is in our own history that a leader like Genl JBM Hertzog is thought of in terms of his "South Africa First" speech at De Wildt in 1912, and Martin Luther King was famous for his "I have a dream" oration in 1964, President Mandela is imprinted in peoples minds with his "I am prepared to die" statement from the dock at the Rivonia trial on 20 April 1964 and FW de Klerk for his "Negotiation and the New South Africa" speech on the 2nd of February 1990.
You, Mr President, in my mind and I believe in the minds of many others, are inextricably linked to your "I am an African" speech in this Parliament on 8 May 1996.
I submit that that speech is as relevant today, as it was 7 years ago, and so today I wish to give my own, subjective perspective on that speech, as to what its implications are for the political dynamic and for the political discourse in the year 2003.
For me as an African, who is also a South African, that speech says, my destiny and future is in Africa and Africa alone.
It says there is space for me, for my distinct cultural life, for my mother tongue Afrikaans, for my religion for my values and for my lifestyle, provided that I grant that same space to every single other South African.
It says that whilst being mindful of and sensitive to the pain and suffering and conflict of the past, and even of the present, I can, irrespective of my own past, play my full role in every way I can, to help build a South Africa that is a caring and worthwhile and a better place for all its people. This speech also says to me I must not only be proudly South African but I must also want this country to succeed and to play its rightful role in our continent. But I must not only want it to succeed - I must be part of an individual and a collective effort to actually make it succeed.
And so today I want to appeal to my fellow Africans, of South Africa, to take hands in this effort. To discard the self-imposed shackles of joyless negativity, of pessimism and of thinly veiled racism, prejudice and suspicion.
I also warn them against the destructive tendency to badmouth our country and our continent, and the real danger inherent in the highly sophisticated but still obvious use of the discredited "swart gevaar" tactics of old, which one particular party tries to resort to in different ways. I want to warn them that that road is a downhill cul de sac leading nowhere and it does not belong in the politics of the new South Africa.
It is as these Africans to which the Hon President Mbeki refers, that the NNP and the ANC have entered a relationship which is based on a number of shared convictions, and which continues to grow.
An important milestone on this road of co-operation was reached on 27 April 2003 when President Mbeki as President of the ANC and Marthinus van Schalkwyk, as National Leader of the NNP, signed a joint declaration in Pretoria. I merely wish to quote one or two sentences from that declaration namely: "We are inspired by the growing spirit of unity among all our people, as they work together to build a new South Africa that belongs to all who live in it. Our country has become a model for reconciliation among competing groups in a previously divided society, proving that African, White, Coloured and Indian succeed best when they work together".
It goes on, and I quote:
"At the same time, we recognize the fact that much remains to be done further to nurture this emerging spirit, which is informed by a new patriotism that acknowledges the diverse attributes and contributions of the people who constitute our nation". unquote
Madame Speaker, my submission is that this is the road of the new South Africa and I urge my fellow South Africans to join us on that road.
Precisely because it is not an easy road we can expect obstacles and even setbacks as we move along it, but we will continue along it because it is the road from here and because we as a party are utterly convinced that it is the right road for South Africa.
Issued by the Office of the Deputy Minister of Health, 18 June 2003
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