Speech by the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Ms Baleka Mbete, at the occasion to rename streets in honour of heroes and heroines of Alexandra

Master of Ceremonies, Ms. Nomvula Mokonyane,
Gauteng Premier and Chairperson of the Vincent Tshabalala Education Trust, Mr Paul Mashatile,
Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Amos Masondo,
Honourable MECs and MMCs present,
Members of the PEC and REC of the ANC
The family of our honoured heroes,
Reverend Sam Buti, and
Friends and fellow compatriots:

I thank you for the invitation to come to this renaming ceremony where we honour our heroes and heroines from Alexandra. It is a day to give much-deserved respect to unrecognised icons of our struggle for freedom.

We support this street renaming because the names that are replaced today "represent the past history of colonization, apartheid oppression, racism and exclusion".

I take this opportunity to thank the organisers of this important event - the Gauteng Department of Housing, the Alexandra Renewal Project and the Alexandra Development Forum.

Comrades that we are honouring today - Florence Moposho, Richard Baloyi, Reverend Sam Buti, Alfred Nzo, Josias Madzunya, Vincent Tshabalala and Mishack Kunene - joined politics inspired by the vision for a just South Africa where all our people have equal rights, regardless of race or gender.

Among those whom we honour today, Reverend Buti is the only compatriot who is still alive and with us today. We must take advantage of this opportunity to thank him in person for the exemplary contribution he has made through various forums, including the "Save Alexandra Campaign" which ended successfully in 1979.

It was through his courageous efforts, together with the Alexandra Student League, that support was mobilised for people affected by the forced-removals in the mid-1970s: the very same forced-removals that were inflicted on our African brothers and sisters during the recent xenophobic attacks.

We say to Reverend Buti, the renaming of Selborne Street in your honour is recognition of your legacy and it is meant to "ensure that your memory lives on and inspires generations of young people from Alexandra".

The London Road, which was renamed after Vincent "Toivo" Tshabalala, bears testimony to a brave comrade who sacrificed a lot for us to achieve our freedom.

This reminds us that our freedom did not come cheap, and therefore we have to defend it and the rich legacy of our struggle. In this regard, I want to encourage the young people to defend the gains of the past 15 years and work with the same energy and vigour as Vincent Tshabalala to mobilise people.

Just over five months ago, this township of Alexandra, was engulfed in something that was ugly and foreign to our culture. The xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals from our continent was ugly and not in the spirit of our ubuntu.

These incidents threatened to reduce Alexandra to a culture of intolerance and hooliganism which goes against the memory of icons like Alfred Nzo, a peace-loving elder of our movement.

We should never again allow such acts of evil to take place as this will undermine their legacy and that of other leaders like Joe Nhlanhla and President Kgalema Motlanthe, among others.

The current generation of young people must know that xenophobia or any form of intolerance has never characterised our struggle for freedom.

I take this opportunity to applaud and congratulate all the people of Alexandra for standing up for the African brothers and sisters and for strongly condemning these incidents. I am informed that you met again early this month to seek ways of reintegrating the displaced foreign nationals back into the community. That is ubuntu and is a symbol of compassion.

Allow me also to take this opportunity to applaud the Vincent Tshabalala Education Trust for its endeavour to help unleash the potential of young people in Alexandra through education.

Indeed, this is in pursuit of the mission that Vincent espoused as the Chairperson of COSAS at the Minerva High School in the early 1980s, for young people to get equal and better education that will allow them to contribute in the development of our country.

The young people of Alexandra now face the future with optimism as a result of the opportunities brought by this Trust.

The achievements recorded by this Trust speak volumes about the positive impact it is making in the community of Alexandra, which include awarding full bursaries to twenty-five (25) students since its inception in September 2004.

Certainly, this will encourage young people who are still at lower Grades to study hard for them to also benefit from this initiative.

Again, this Trust Fund has awarded eight (8) educators with laptop computers that have internet connection in recognition of their commitment to the education of our children.

This gesture will without doubt stimulate the performance of educators across all schools in Alexandra, so that they can also be counted among those who work hard to prepare our children for success and in the process contribute to the socio-economic development of South Africa.

Education remains key in our fight against challenges of poverty, unemployment, and crime as well as alcohol and drug abuse, among others.

You have shown confidence in the movement to address these challenges by repeatedly voting for the ANC since the dawn of our freedom in 1994.

As we prepare and gear up for the forthcoming elections in 2009, we say to you, our democracy can only mature if you invest in us and entrust us to lead the transformation agenda of our developmental state. Our solid achievements for the past fifteen years speak for themselves.

As you prepare to register to vote on the weekend of 08 and 09 November, we urge you to join us in mobilising all members to exercise their democratic rights.

I emphasise unity in strength because in recent weeks our movement has been under severe attack. The forces of division have sought to undermine the values that the likes of Reverend Buti, Alfred Nzo and Vincent Tshabalala have fought and died for.

No one, including the breakaway faction, can claim credit because this is the caring policy of the ANC.

Our message to the small group and breakaway formation that has left our ranks: we respect your right to organise wherever you choose but we will not allow you to sow dissent and mobilise amongst our ranks.

We urge the loyal members of the ANC not to be sidetracked and to remain focused and mobilise support for our movement to win again next year's elections with an overwhelming majority.

As government, we call on young people to focus all their energies at school and call upon the Grade 12 learners to dedicate all their time to the upcoming exit examinations.

From my heart I wish all the best and I am very confident you will do well and make your parents and communities proud.

Remember that all of South Africa is right behind you and supports you!

Equally, we urge parents to play their part by providing the right environment for their children to study. We also say thank you to the educators and principals for being committed to bring quality education to the lives of our young learners.

Education remains key in our fight against poverty, unemployment, and crime as well as alcohol and drug abuse. Education opens many doors of opportunity and enables you to make informed decisions.

I want to thank the families of the struggle heroes and heroines that we are honouring here today.

Finally, we can all learn a lot from the exemplary lives of comrades Florence Mophosho, Richard Baloyi, Reverend Sam Buti, Alfred Nzo, Josias Madzunya, and Vincent Tshabalala.

We are proud of what they did for South Africa and we will protect their legacy and all the democratic principles they fought for.

Ke a leboga. Pula!

Issued by: The Presidency
25 October 2008
Source: The Presidency (http://www.thepresidency.gov.za)