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Date : 11/11/2003
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government
Title: Van Schalkwyk: Debate during Pres Mbeki's address to NCOP


SPEECH BY WESTERN CAPE PREMIER, MARTHINUS VAN SCHALKWYK, DURING THE ANNUAL PRESIDENT'S DEBATE IN THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES ON 11 NOVEMBER 2003

TODAY - TEN YEARS ON: RECONCILIATION AND NATION-BUILDING A WORK IN PROGRESS

Chairperson,
Mr President,
Colleagues,

INTRODUCTION

A decade may be a relatively short period of time - but ten years does much to dull the memory of specific events, specific emotions, and specific concerns. A comparison of the headlines from November 1993 with those of November 2003 speaks for itself. Let me ask you to recall, with me, this day a decade ago - Thursday, 11 November 1993:

* One headline in a local paper (Die Burger, 11/11/93) read "Crisis in SA 'close to war'" ("Krisis in SA 'Naby Oorlog'"), another (also Die Burger) the following day said "SA at Make or Break" ("SA by maak of breek"), a week later (Die Burger, 19/11/93) "Buthelezi threatens revolt over Constitution" ("Buthelezi dreig met verset oor grondwet")
* We had no finalised Constitution and no culture of human rights
* South Africa was still in shock about the assassination of the late Chris Hani
* It was a month in which 351 South Africans died in political violence
* It was the month that all soldiers had their leave cancelled because of the explosive situation of tension
* It was two months after revelations of a right-wing plot to kill the late Peter Mokaba - whose 'Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer' call was a frequent refrain in that year
* It was five months after a group of AWB right-wing fanatics drove an armoured vehicle through the front doors of the World Trade Centre during the multi-party negotiations - raising serious concerns about a right-wing military coup attempt
* It was four months before the AWB and Constand Viljoen marched into Bophuthatswana to support Lucas Mangope.

11 November 1993 was however by no means a time without hope:

- It was two days before Springbok star Chester Williams made his debut in a match against Argentina
- It was a week before the Interim Constitution was adopted
- It was a month after the United Nations introduced its Resolution on the Lifting of Economic Sanctions against South Africa
- It was five months after the date had been set for the first democratic elections and five months before the elections themselves.

ECHOES OF A DIVIDED PAST - TEN YEARS LATER

Next Tuesday we will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Interim Constitution. On the morning of 18 November 1993 then-President De Klerk had just outlined the final deal on power sharing to an emergency Cabinet meeting. After he finished, Dr Tertius Delport - currently a DA MP - allegedly grabbed the President by the front of his shirt and shrieked: "What have you done? You've given South Africa away!".

That attitude and approach still characterises some of the right-wing parties in South Africa today who are being dragged, kicking and screaming into the New South Africa. They continue to believe that equality for all means that white South Africans have somehow been diminished when - in fact - all South Africans have been affirmed.

The historic agreement on the Interim Constitution initially included primarily the African National Congress (ANC) and the then National Party (NP) - with Inkatha and the white right wing excluding themselves from the agreement. It is greatly ironic that both the old and new political homes of the white right-wing and other political parties continue to define themselves outside of the new South Africa, even a decade later.

Although we stand in 2003 - a nation both bursting with potential and pride - there remain those who would return our people to the mistakes of our past. Let me read to you from a letter published a few days ago in the Citizen newspaper (28 October 2003):

"President Mbeki presents the greatest threat to black people in this country."

In a reference to Mr Mandela and Archbishop Emeritus Tutu, the letter writer continues:

"Once these icons of humanity and reconciliation have gone, he President Mbeki will be free to accelerate the destruction of the whites to the applause of his brother, Mugabe."

The President and the ANC can fend for themselves, but this kind of racial venom stokes the fires of racial hatred in South Africa and undercuts the building of our One Nation. The letter was written, not by a member of the Boeremag or the AWB or the Conservative Party/Freedom Front alliance - but by a public representative of the DA. To this day he has not yet been publicly repudiated by that party or their leadership.

This is from a party that portrays itself as liberal, yet the same party continues to execute a deliberate agenda of racial intolerance. Maybe this is a case where the leadership of that party practises silent diplomacy on 'swart gevaar' race mongering in their own ranks.

Chairperson, there are many leaders in this country from all communities who are doing the opposite of what that letter writer and his party are doing - reaching out, listening to other communities, convincing people to share, giving reassurances and demonstrating how far we have come in ten years.

This takes a commitment beyond simple superficial words - and it was this same difficulty that was expressed in the 1960's already by the well-known Afrikaans poet and philosopher, Uys Krige, in one of his lesser-known works ('Vishoring'):

"Daarom moet ons in vrede leef,
wit, bruin en swart en kind en kraai,
moet ons mekaar verdra, verstaan,
ja, hiers

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