Brothers and sisters in Christ; thank you for inviting me to
participate in today's celebration as we officially open this place of
learning. I attend as a long-time friend of the Nazareth Baptist
Church, and as an admirer of all that this Church has achieved as it
has walked in the footsteps of the Right Reverend Isaiah Mbombela
Shembe. Of course, I also attend as a fellow Believer in Christ to
celebrate what my brethren are doing.

But the reason this particular event holds such significance for me,
is that I am a lifelong champion of education. Seeing a school opened
gives me tremendous joy, for it brings to mind the possibility of
lives transformed and destinies unfolding. For me, this is also a very
personal matter, for I know that I would not have been able to walk my
own path in life had I not received the benefit of a good education. I
have my parents to thank for placing such emphasis on my intellectual
development, at a time when few of my peers went to school or
continued on to higher education.

In this way, my journey is similar to that of the Reverend Johannes
Galilee Shembe, for his father too made a point of sending his
children to school. The Prophet Isaiah Shembe felt limited by his own
lack of formal education. Although we have inherited a vast treasury
of his hymns and teachings, Prophet Shembe was not able to read or
write. He relied on helpers to pen the words he gave to them. At
times, his message was also rejected, for people said he did not know
what he was talking about, as an uneducated man.

I am often reminded that when Jesus began his ministry, He travelled
to Nazareth where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He went
to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read from the
scriptures. He read from the book of Isaiah â“ "The Spirit of the
Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to
the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at
liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of
the Lord.â (Luke 4 verses 18 and 19)

When He had finished reading, Jesus explained that the scripture had
been fulfilled. But those in the synagogue responded by asking, "Is
this not Joseph's son?â

In this world, people are often not granted a voice until they provide
their credentials. That is a pity, because wisdom is not always
contained in the learned. The Prophet Isaiah Shembe had a powerful
message to convey. Today, more than one hundred years later, hundreds
of thousands of people accept the wisdom of his words and follow his
teachings. But in his own lifetime, Prophet Shembe struggled to be
heard due to his lack of education.

Thus he felt strongly that his children should attend school and
acquire knowledge and learning. Wisdom comes from God and from
experience. But when one has both wisdom and knowledge, the doors to
influence people's lives begin to open more readily.

Thus Prophet Shembe's son, Rev Johannes Galilee Shembe, began school
in Inanda and then attended Lovedale College. He completed high school
at Adams College, as did I, and went on to Fort Hare University, where
I myself studied several years later. He also taught at Adams
College at the tender age of 29 years.

Prophet Shembe had successfully instilled in his children an
appreciation for learning and a thirst for knowledge. This inheritance
was passed down the generations. Prophet Shembe's grandson, the Right
Reverend Londa Shembe, became a law graduate and completed a Diploma
in Theology. He and I were very close and I enjoyed the long
conversations we had about this world and the next. I was devastated
when he was assassinated.

I shared the sorrow of the Nazareth Baptist Church here at
Ekuphakameni when we buried the late Right Reverend Londa Shembe. But
I have also shared many moments of joy, celebration and hope with the
members of this Church.

In fact, even before I was born my ties with the Nazareth Baptist
Church were forged. My mother, the late Princess Magogo ka Dinuzulu
was placed here at Ekuphakameni under the care of the Prophet Isaiah
Shembe by her late brother, King Solomon ka Dinuzulu, when she was
expecting me. This was in order for her to be near Dr McCord, the
founder of the McCords Hospital, in order to get antenatal care from
him. It is for this reason that I have always referred to myself as
"the child of Ekuphakameniâ.

I have been privileged to know many of the leaders and elders in this
Church personally. I attended many ceremonies and services under the
Right Reverend JG Shembe, the grandfather of the leader of the Church
of Ekuphakameni. Then also at Ebuhleni under the leadership of the
Right Reverend AK Shembe. And also here under the Right Reverend Londa
Shembe, the father of your present leader. I have attended several
occasions at Ebuhleni under the Right Reverend Dr MV Shembe, as well
as at the Nhlangakazi Mountain. He was also a professional man, well
educated.

It therefore feels appropriate that I come here today to applaud the
continuation of the work of the Prophet Isaiah Shembe in pioneering
the education of our people. I applaud the Nazareth Baptist Church for
continuing the good work that he started when he left Harrismith and
settled here, on this soil. He built an inheritance for many. Now,
through the work of the Church, the next generation will also see this
inheritance.

When we consider how the work that the Prophet Isaiah Shembe started
has flourished, none of us can doubt that he was indeed sent by God to
us as the black nation. I thank God that He gave us other servants of
God after the Prophet Isaiah Shembe to follow in Shembe's footsteps
and continue his good work. As we celebrate the opening of this
school, let us remember God's servants, amongst both the living and
the dead, who have led us so faithfully through the years.

I am grateful to count the Rt Reverend Amos Khula Shembe as one of my
teachers, for he lectured me while I was at Adams College. He became
part of a legacy of highly educated men and women who influenced my
life's path by encouraging me to think, to question and to accept my
role in finding answers. My education taught me more than facts and
figures. It taught me to keep learning about the world around me,
about people and ideas, no matter how many years it has been since I
sat in a classroom.

I still read. I still devour newspapers and enjoy talking to people
who are professionals in their fields. I look for both sides to
arguments, and try to see things from every perspective. I challenge
my own assumptions, and challenge others to look for truth. To me,
education should never end. School should be the first step on a
lifelong journey of learning that empowers us to help ourselves and
challenges us to help others.

Because of this great emphasis I place on education, I rejected the
strategy of burning down schools and destroying textbooks to protest
Apartheid. In KwaZulu, where I was Chief Minister, I urged children to
stay in school, to respect their teachers and to learn as much as
possible, for history proves that education has always been an
effective tool for liberation. I thank God that there are black South
Africans today who are able to make a constructive contribution to our
country because a few people stood up for their education during
Apartheid.

As we open this school, my prayer is that the children who are
educated here will develop a love of learning that continues
throughout their lives. May the doors to influence people's lives be
opened to them and they pursue wisdom and knowledge. And may we as
leaders stand up for their education, and for the quality of their
education, so that this generation can pass on a good inheritance to
the generation that is to come.

The Nazareth Baptist Church is one of the largest churches in Africa.
It holds great influence and has the power to effect positive change
in South Africa and in countries throughout Africa. I therefore pray
that it may move from strength to strength and grow into the Church
that God intended it to be.