Date: 30/11/2003
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government
Title: Van Schalkwyk: Western Cape cleansing, healing & symbolic reparations ceremony
SPEECH BY WESTERN CAPE PREMIER, MARTHINUS VAN SCHALKWYK, AT THE WESTERN CAPE CLEANSING, HEALING AND SYMBOLIC REPARATIONS CEREMONY, Company Gardens, Cape Town, 30 November 2003
THE WESTERN CAPE SPEAKS WITH ONE VOICE: ACKNOWLEDGE OUR DIVIDED PAST - BUILD OUR FUTURE TOGETHER
Introduction
There is a saying that goes 'time heals all wounds' - unfortunately it is not always that simple. Healing a nation needs time, but also real understanding, real respect, and ongoing efforts to build lasting reconciliation.
It is for this purpose that we gather today - to bring together the different strands of our history, to assemble the cultures, the beliefs and the languages that make up our society, to gather our communities in one place, at one time, to speak with one voice.
Collectively we acknowledge our divided past. We recall the pain of past generations, lost opportunities, and the suffering of self-imposed inhumanity. At the same time we evoke the memories of heroes and heroines - points of light and beacons of hope - whose compassion, courage and selfless sacrifice paved the path to the New South Africa. This then is cleansing - a process of examination, understanding and ultimately acceptance of that which came before.
Healing goes further. It requires of us a more active role. It demands that we live our lives as proof that we have learnt the lessons of our past - by focusing our energies and skills in partnership to build success together.
This ceremony is like a bridge arching over our history. Stretching from the time of our first people, through the conflicts of colonialism, world wars, the struggle against apartheid, and touching ground again in a province once more at peace with itself.
Today we speak with the voices of slaves, of soldiers, of freedom fighters and of ordinary men and women who acknowledge our past - but choose instead to focus on our common future.
The Western Cape - Conflict and Conciliation
The venue for this ceremony today is greatly significant. These Company Gardens have been at the heart of the Western Cape and the struggles and triumphs of our people. From serene and untouched land through which our first peoples passed, to a vegetable patch that fed the European settlers, to a flourishing garden tended by slaves, to the seat of power at Tuynhuys, to a gathering place for protest and struggle politics. Surrounded by parliaments, courts, libraries and places of worship these gardens have seen it all, and have remained a peaceful green refuge for the people of the Cape.
More recently they have hosted celebrations of democracy, unity, and the coming to power of a Western Cape Government that truly represents all of the people of our province. It is fitting that today the gardens play host to this ceremony, and the signing of this declaration.
We understand that coloured, black, white and Indian South Africans succeed best only in partnership - working and building together.
In the Western Cape we are showing that we can bring the spirit of our Constitution to life. We have shown already that we are building on the foundation laid in 1994.
The TRC, Reparations and Freedom Park
Former President Mandela, speaking in February 1999 acknowledged that reparations can only ever be symbolic - never in proportion to the extent of the suffering and sacrifice of so many South Africans.
In his words, "the best reparation for the suffering of victims and communities and the highest recognition of their efforts is the transformation of our society into one which makes a living reality of the human rights for which they struggled."
When the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was handed to President Mbeki on 21 March this year it signified both an ending and a beginning. It was in many respects the end of the soul-searching and national conflict that was the legacy of our history. It was also the beginning of this process, the reparation of the sprit of South Africa, that will culminate on 16 December this year with the preservation of our entire history for our future generations in Freedom Park. To Dr Serote and the Freedom Park Trust we commit these symbols of our people and our province, but far more than soil, stone and tree we commit ourselves to the ideal of one people, united by one patriotism.
Conclusion
From my own personal perspective nothing speaks louder of this fact than this event itself. Cleansing and healing ceremonies are not part of my tradition or the community from which I come. Even as recently as ten years ago it would have seemed strange to me to take part in such an event. Yet today I am honoured and privileged to be included in a uniquely South African celebration of our uniquely South African identity.
Tomorrow marks the 170-year anniversary of the day on which all slaves in the Cape were freed. Today we celebrate another kind of freedom - the freedom of a people who are no longer bound by chains of race or prejudice.
Enquiries: Riaan Aucamp, 083 7789923
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Western Cape Provincial Government
30 November 2003
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government
Title: Van Schalkwyk: Western Cape cleansing, healing & symbolic reparations ceremony
SPEECH BY WESTERN CAPE PREMIER, MARTHINUS VAN SCHALKWYK, AT THE WESTERN CAPE CLEANSING, HEALING AND SYMBOLIC REPARATIONS CEREMONY, Company Gardens, Cape Town, 30 November 2003
THE WESTERN CAPE SPEAKS WITH ONE VOICE: ACKNOWLEDGE OUR DIVIDED PAST - BUILD OUR FUTURE TOGETHER
Introduction
There is a saying that goes 'time heals all wounds' - unfortunately it is not always that simple. Healing a nation needs time, but also real understanding, real respect, and ongoing efforts to build lasting reconciliation.
It is for this purpose that we gather today - to bring together the different strands of our history, to assemble the cultures, the beliefs and the languages that make up our society, to gather our communities in one place, at one time, to speak with one voice.
Collectively we acknowledge our divided past. We recall the pain of past generations, lost opportunities, and the suffering of self-imposed inhumanity. At the same time we evoke the memories of heroes and heroines - points of light and beacons of hope - whose compassion, courage and selfless sacrifice paved the path to the New South Africa. This then is cleansing - a process of examination, understanding and ultimately acceptance of that which came before.
Healing goes further. It requires of us a more active role. It demands that we live our lives as proof that we have learnt the lessons of our past - by focusing our energies and skills in partnership to build success together.
This ceremony is like a bridge arching over our history. Stretching from the time of our first people, through the conflicts of colonialism, world wars, the struggle against apartheid, and touching ground again in a province once more at peace with itself.
Today we speak with the voices of slaves, of soldiers, of freedom fighters and of ordinary men and women who acknowledge our past - but choose instead to focus on our common future.
The Western Cape - Conflict and Conciliation
The venue for this ceremony today is greatly significant. These Company Gardens have been at the heart of the Western Cape and the struggles and triumphs of our people. From serene and untouched land through which our first peoples passed, to a vegetable patch that fed the European settlers, to a flourishing garden tended by slaves, to the seat of power at Tuynhuys, to a gathering place for protest and struggle politics. Surrounded by parliaments, courts, libraries and places of worship these gardens have seen it all, and have remained a peaceful green refuge for the people of the Cape.
More recently they have hosted celebrations of democracy, unity, and the coming to power of a Western Cape Government that truly represents all of the people of our province. It is fitting that today the gardens play host to this ceremony, and the signing of this declaration.
We understand that coloured, black, white and Indian South Africans succeed best only in partnership - working and building together.
In the Western Cape we are showing that we can bring the spirit of our Constitution to life. We have shown already that we are building on the foundation laid in 1994.
The TRC, Reparations and Freedom Park
Former President Mandela, speaking in February 1999 acknowledged that reparations can only ever be symbolic - never in proportion to the extent of the suffering and sacrifice of so many South Africans.
In his words, "the best reparation for the suffering of victims and communities and the highest recognition of their efforts is the transformation of our society into one which makes a living reality of the human rights for which they struggled."
When the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was handed to President Mbeki on 21 March this year it signified both an ending and a beginning. It was in many respects the end of the soul-searching and national conflict that was the legacy of our history. It was also the beginning of this process, the reparation of the sprit of South Africa, that will culminate on 16 December this year with the preservation of our entire history for our future generations in Freedom Park. To Dr Serote and the Freedom Park Trust we commit these symbols of our people and our province, but far more than soil, stone and tree we commit ourselves to the ideal of one people, united by one patriotism.
Conclusion
From my own personal perspective nothing speaks louder of this fact than this event itself. Cleansing and healing ceremonies are not part of my tradition or the community from which I come. Even as recently as ten years ago it would have seemed strange to me to take part in such an event. Yet today I am honoured and privileged to be included in a uniquely South African celebration of our uniquely South African identity.
Tomorrow marks the 170-year anniversary of the day on which all slaves in the Cape were freed. Today we celebrate another kind of freedom - the freedom of a people who are no longer bound by chains of race or prejudice.
Enquiries: Riaan Aucamp, 083 7789923
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Western Cape Provincial Government
30 November 2003
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