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Date : 19/04/2004
Source: The Presidency
Title: J Zuma: IEC 10th anniversary celebration of democracy


SPEECH BY DEPUTY PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA AT THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF DEMOCRACY, ORGANISED BY THE IEC, Tshwane, 19 April 2004

Chairperson of the IEC, Dr Hlope Bam
Distinguished members of the IEC
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am deeply honoured to speak here today, on behalf of our President, the Government and the people of South Africa to congratulate our Electoral Commission on the occasion of its celebration of the 10th Anniversary of our Liberation.

This important celebration also serves as a moment to pay tribute to the Commission for the outstanding work it has done to organise and manage 5 national, provincial and municipal elections.

I am also pleased to join the Electoral Commission in saluting the previous national and international members of the IEC, Dr Renosi Mokate, the Chairpersons of the Local Government Election Task Team of 1995, and the members of staff who have served the Electoral Commission for 10 years.

We too thank all of these eminent personalities for everything they did to contribute to the stable democracy we enjoy today.

The Preamble to our Constitution says that our fundamental law lays "the foundation for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is protected by law..."

That Constitution also prescribes the Political Rights of all our people and, among other things, says:

"Every citizen has the right to free, fair and regular elections for any legislative body established in terms of the Constitution.

"Every adult citizen has the right (a) to vote in elections for any legislative body established in terms of the Constitution, and to do so in secret; and (b) to stand for public office and, if elected, to hold office."

Undoubtedly the Members of the Electoral Commission are very much aware of what the Constitution also says about the Commission, that it must:

"manage elections of national, provincial and municipal legislative bodies in accordance with national legislation; (and) "ensure that those elections are free and fair."

All these Constitutional provisions have become an established fact of our national life. For the young people who did not experience the hardship of struggle for our liberation, they might appear to characterise aspects of our national life that have always been there.

Indeed, time will make many others forget that it cost the lives of many of our people to secure the victory of the democratic principles and practices, which many take for granted today.

We are however not wrong to say that the very Electoral Commission we salute tonight owes its existence to a struggle for democracy that was waged over a long period of time, a struggle that demanded many sacrifices, a struggle that made it necessary that many of our people, both young and old, should lay down their lives.

When, accordingly, we pledge our commitment to do everything in our power to protect the independence of the Commission, never to do anything that would result in diminishing its authority and prestige, always to respect its findings arrived at in accordance with its constitutional and legal obligations, we do so because we also deeply respect those who sacrificed everything so that we should enjoy the democratic rights the Electoral Commission is established to protect and advance.

Indeed, our very Constitution says: "We, the people of South Africa, honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land", and seek to "heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights."

In this regard, I must express our government's regret that there may be some in our country who are ready and willing to ignore all these considerations, merely to advance partisan political interests. Surely, they too must recognise the fact that the national good, including the honouring of those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land, obliges all of us to understand that there are some things that are far greater than party political interest and the public expression of wounded pride.

We who had the privilege to contribute the little we did to secure our liberation can never forget that the institution we celebrate today, the Electoral Commission, is the product of a long-held dream and hope of millions of our people.

It is not the outcome of a sudden brainwave and a matter of passing interest.

The historic document, "The Africans' Claims", was adopted at the 1943 National Conference of the African National Conference. It was our people's response to the "Atlantic Charter" which led to the foundation of the United Nations and the adoption of the UN Charter and the universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Under a section entitled "The Atlantic Charter and the Africans", the 'Africans' Claims' said:

"The Atlantic Charter agreed upon by the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Great Britain in their historic meeting of August 14, 1941, and subsequently subscribed to by the other Allied Nations, has aroused widespread interest throughout the world. In all countries this summary of the war aims of the Allied Nations has aroused hopes and fired the imagination of all peoples in regard to the new world order adumbrated in its terms.

"For us in South Africa particular significance attaches to this document because of its endorsement on more than one occasion by Field-Marshal Smuts, who has announced that the post war world will be based upon the principles enunciated in the Atlantic Charter.

The Honourable Deneys Reitz, speaking on behalf of the Government, to the African people, when he opened the sixth session of the natives Representative Council in December, 1942, indicated that the Freedoms vouchsafed to the peoples of the world in the Atlantic Charter were indicated from the African people as well."

"The Africans' Claims" then goes on to quote the Third Point in that Charter entitled: "The Right to Choose the form of Government", which says:

"(The Allied Nations) respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them."

"The Africans' Claims" then goes on to say:

"The principle of Self Determination made famous by President Wilson in his FOURTEEN POINTS on behalf of small nations has been reaffirmed by this article of the charter. This principle of self determination necessarily raises not only issues relating to the independent existence of small nations besides their more powerful neighbours but those also concerning the political rights and status of minorities and of Africans now held under European tutelage.

"In the African continent in particular, European aggression and conquest has resulted in the establishment of Alien governments which, however beneficent they might be in intention or in fact, are not accountable to the indigenous inhabitants. Africans are still very conscious of the loss of their independence, freedom and the right of choosing the form of government under which they will live. It is the inalienable right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live and therefore Africans welcome the belated recognition of this right by the Allied Nations.

"We believe that the acid test of this third article of the charter is its application to the African continent. In certain parts of Africa it should be possible to accord Africans sovereign rights and to establish administrations of their own choosing. But in other parts of Africa where there are the peculiar circumstances of a politically entrenched European minority ruling a majority African population the demands of the Africans for full citizenship rights and direct participation in all the councils of the state should be recognised. This is most urgent in the Union of South Africa."

Addressing the Allied Nations and the peoples of the world, our leaders of 1943 said: "We desire them to realise once an for all that a just and permanent peace will be possible only if the claims of all classes, colours and races for sharing and for full participation in the educational, political and economic activities are granted and recognised."

Time did indeed prove that the acid test of the Third Article of the Atlantic Charter was its application to the African continent, including the acquisition of citizenship and democratic rights by the Africans in those countries where there was "a politically entrenched European minority ruling a majority African population".

A just and permanent peace in our country only became possible when the claims of all classes, colours and races for sharing and for full participation in the educational, political and economic activities were granted and recognised. The sentiments expressed in The Africans Claims were to find their expression in the Freedom Charter of 1955, which among other things said:

"We, the People of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people.

The Freedom Charter then went on to say that - "The People Shall Govern! Every man and woman shall have the right to vote for and to stand as a candidate for all bodies which make laws."

It should therefore come as no surprise that the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996 should say:

"We, the people of South Africa, believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity."

This is what The Africans' Claims said, and this is what the Freedom Charter said.

We meet here tonight to celebrate our First Decade of Freedom and to honour and salute our Electoral Commission, the special instrument we have established to ensure that every man and woman has the right to vote for and to stand as a candidate for all bodies which make laws.

But tonight we also celebrate and pay tribute to the millions who engaged in struggle that opened the way for us to be here tonight to mark our First Decade of Democracy. Our respect and obligation to those masses demands that at all times we remain vigilant in our defence of democracy, and at all times we remain vigilant in our defence of the State Institutions Supporting Constitutional Democracy. Because of the value and the vital importance we attach to these objectives, we must, at all times, repeat the prayer contained in our Constitution:

"May God protect our people
"Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
"Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso
"Hosi katekisa Afrika."

Thank you.

Issued by: The Presidency
19 April 2004
Source: SAPA

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