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Date
: 04/02/2005
Source: Ministry of Housing
Title: Sisulu: Closing Ceremony of African Ministerial Conference
on Housing & Urban Development
Speech by LN Sisulu, Minister of Housing, at the Closing Ceremony
of High Level Meeting of the African Ministerial Conference on
Housing and Urban development, ICC, Durban 4 February 2005
Honourable Ministers, The AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Adv
Bience Gavanas The UN-Habitat Executive Director Dr Anna Tibaijuka
Distinguished guests Country representatives and friends
I have been humbled by the gesture of confidence shown in us as a
country to host this first meeting of African Ministers in housing
and urban development. As government, and as the Department of
Housing, we have taken note of the overwhelming expression of
gratitude for hosting. We are however, on our part, unable to begin
to express the sense of humility we have in having been given the
opportunity to host and create the birth of AMCHUD.
Allow me therefore Honourable Ministers to thank both Dr. Anna
Tibaijuka and Adv. Bience Gawanas who through the two organisations
they lead gave us this opportunity. For indeed, what is not
reflected here is the support, energy and the drive they both put
in.
We set ourselves what seemed were impossible targets to achieve the
results we now have in terms of the outcomes of the conference. And
I am glad that we were able to make it. For this reason I would
like the house to know that in respect to any rumours to the
contrary, the drive and the vision were provided by the co-hosts.
Being the new arrival on the scene they took care to guide me. In
the shortest period of time they showed me the routes, the
shortcuts and taught me a few tricks of the trade. Hence, now that
we are here I want to share with you that there is indeed no force
as formidable as the solidarity of women. And I thank them for
this.
The Deputy President indicated yesterday that we meet here at a
particularly historic time for us in South Africa as we celebrate
the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter, a document that guides
us on the policies we undertake to improve the plight of our
people. What is important to note in this regard is that as we look
back over the last 50 years we recognise that we have been nurtured
and assisted by yourselves to get here. We think of ourselves as a
reflection of everything that we have learnt from you. We think of
ourselves as your collective aspirations of what is possible. In
all the time we have been in the struggle to end apartheid we took
in best practices from each one of you. Therefore, we think of
ourselves as an embodiment of yourselves, given the opportunity to
start all over again, because we had the opportunity to start all
over again to choose what has worked and to throw out what has not
worked - basing ourselves on your experiences. This is why we are
so grateful today for what Africa has given us.
In our culture when a child born into family has some good
attributes the men take pride and attribute that to themselves. It
however becomes different when they do not like the attributes and
in this instance they would attribute what is wrong or that which
they do not like to the mother of the child. I would like you to
take that which you like in us as yours and that which you do not
like you may attribute to somewhere else. In this small way
therefore we hope that as you are assembled here you all will
appreciate our extent of gratitude to you. Thank you for the
confidence you have shown in us.
This historic and first meeting of African Ministers in housing and
urban development that provided us with the opportunity to
collectively deliberate and find a common position on Africa,
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