Date: 29/11/2002
Source: Ministry of Intelligence Services
Title: Sisulu: Unveiling of the Wall of Remembrance
OPENING STATEMENT AND EXTENSION OF WORD OF WELCOME BY THE MINISTER OF INTELLIGENCE SERVICES, MS LINDIWE N SISULU, AT THE OCCASION OF THE UNVEILING OF THE WALL OF REMEMBRANCE, 29 NOVEMBER 2002, RHULANI, RIETVLEI, PRETORIA
Mr. President
Mr. Deputy President
Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Heads of the Intelligence and Managers
Invited Families
Members of the Intelligence Community
Ladies and Gentlemen
After closing our recent divisive and conflict-ridden history in 1994 our country and our people took the urgent steps of building a future in which all of us could equally proclaim this country as ours. As we are gathered here today nourishing the fruits of liberation, we recognize that some of our gallant men and women with whom we fought in the deep ugly trenches of war are not here to share the fruits of our successes. The contours of their faces, which are etched in our collective memory, are all that remains.
For the past seven years we have been navigating a path which at times has been overwhelmingly daunting: the task of bringing legitimacy and legality to our domain. And as we navigated and balanced the concept of secrecy versus transparency we have stumbled upon many unanswered questions.
The first is the one we sought to answer today. We are a legally constituted security apparatus of government governed by the same norms of transparency as other security apparatuses. Why, if this is the case, do we not honour our own as other security organs do? We could find no reason why that should not be done, and having taken the decision that it should be done - of course within the confines of our circumstances - we are conscious that we have come of age and have reached that state in the development of our own affairs where we feel confident that we have got the balance right.
To construct a permanent symbol by which we all can remember our fallen heroes and heroines for whom the cries of freedom were a higher calling to everything else they had and possessed, we as the intelligence services, decided on erecting this Wall of Remembrance.
Here, families, comrades, friends and colleagues, will have the opportunity to touch the silent names of their beloved ones and remember them with love. In this restful place we will remember them for their heroism and bravery and for what they have done in service of the country and our people.
The Wall as you see it now is only the first phase. It is anticipated that when we are through it will be three times the size it is now. The names that are engraved in gold on the wall depict two categories. Those who died on duty. These span the period from Comrade Zakithi to Mziwendoda Mdluli, the first officer to die in the new dispensation, through to the cadre who died in a drowning accident in the Vaal Dam and six cadres who died in a minibus accident on their way to work.
The second category consists of members who died within the Services. The third category that is not yet complete will give recognition to people who have given outstanding service to the Community and this will include, amongst others Mzwai Piliso.
Our second responsibility is to honour those who presently are in the services of the country.
Your presence at this occasion Mr. President and Mr. Deputy President is extremely significant for us, not only because of the honour that you bring by gracing this occasion, but because you both have a common root with all of us here. Mr. President, when you and the Deputy President, representing both the political and intelligence services of the ANC, met the former intelligence services of the previous government - represented here today by Mr. Mike Louw - and began the discussions around the negotiations that brought us where we are now, you defined a new fa
Source: Ministry of Intelligence Services
Title: Sisulu: Unveiling of the Wall of Remembrance
OPENING STATEMENT AND EXTENSION OF WORD OF WELCOME BY THE MINISTER OF INTELLIGENCE SERVICES, MS LINDIWE N SISULU, AT THE OCCASION OF THE UNVEILING OF THE WALL OF REMEMBRANCE, 29 NOVEMBER 2002, RHULANI, RIETVLEI, PRETORIA
Mr. President
Mr. Deputy President
Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Heads of the Intelligence and Managers
Invited Families
Members of the Intelligence Community
Ladies and Gentlemen
After closing our recent divisive and conflict-ridden history in 1994 our country and our people took the urgent steps of building a future in which all of us could equally proclaim this country as ours. As we are gathered here today nourishing the fruits of liberation, we recognize that some of our gallant men and women with whom we fought in the deep ugly trenches of war are not here to share the fruits of our successes. The contours of their faces, which are etched in our collective memory, are all that remains.
For the past seven years we have been navigating a path which at times has been overwhelmingly daunting: the task of bringing legitimacy and legality to our domain. And as we navigated and balanced the concept of secrecy versus transparency we have stumbled upon many unanswered questions.
The first is the one we sought to answer today. We are a legally constituted security apparatus of government governed by the same norms of transparency as other security apparatuses. Why, if this is the case, do we not honour our own as other security organs do? We could find no reason why that should not be done, and having taken the decision that it should be done - of course within the confines of our circumstances - we are conscious that we have come of age and have reached that state in the development of our own affairs where we feel confident that we have got the balance right.
To construct a permanent symbol by which we all can remember our fallen heroes and heroines for whom the cries of freedom were a higher calling to everything else they had and possessed, we as the intelligence services, decided on erecting this Wall of Remembrance.
Here, families, comrades, friends and colleagues, will have the opportunity to touch the silent names of their beloved ones and remember them with love. In this restful place we will remember them for their heroism and bravery and for what they have done in service of the country and our people.
The Wall as you see it now is only the first phase. It is anticipated that when we are through it will be three times the size it is now. The names that are engraved in gold on the wall depict two categories. Those who died on duty. These span the period from Comrade Zakithi to Mziwendoda Mdluli, the first officer to die in the new dispensation, through to the cadre who died in a drowning accident in the Vaal Dam and six cadres who died in a minibus accident on their way to work.
The second category consists of members who died within the Services. The third category that is not yet complete will give recognition to people who have given outstanding service to the Community and this will include, amongst others Mzwai Piliso.
Our second responsibility is to honour those who presently are in the services of the country.
Your presence at this occasion Mr. President and Mr. Deputy President is extremely significant for us, not only because of the honour that you bring by gracing this occasion, but because you both have a common root with all of us here. Mr. President, when you and the Deputy President, representing both the political and intelligence services of the ANC, met the former intelligence services of the previous government - represented here today by Mr. Mike Louw - and began the discussions around the negotiations that brought us where we are now, you defined a new fa
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