Obekekileyo uMfundisi uMbekwa
Iinkokheli ngokweenkolo zonke ezimelweyo apha.
Iinkokheli zabahlali, izicukuthwane neendwalutho.
Imibutho yabantu
OoMama noTata
Umlisela nomthinjana.
Iinkosi mazithambe ngoba kaloku is’caka sivumile.
I wish firstly to express my profound and heartfelt appreciation for the honour that Reverend Mbekwa has afforded me by inviting me to address this august congregation and deliver a special message for our father, our guiding light, our Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
It is so fitting, Mfundisi, that you have convened us in this manner. Among the first words which Madiba uttered soon after his release from 27 years of imprisonment, on February 11 1990, was an acknowledgement of the role that religious communities played in carrying forward the campaign for justice when all progressive organisations of the people were silenced. He commended religious communities for their “tireless efforts and heroic sacrifices [which made] it possible for me to be here today”, he said.
We thus draw considerable strength from this initiative, in faith, knowing that we will, once more, make it possible for Madiba to be back with us again, especially with just a few days before the International Nelson Mandela Day, his birthday on July 18.
So thank you, mthanjiswa weNkosi.
A month has now passed since unyana kaBaw’ omkhulu uGadla Henry Mphakanyiswa noMam’khulu uNosekeni Fanny, umntwan’egazi uDalibhunga, uMadiba, was admitted to hospital due to ill-health.
Throughout this time, President Jacob Zuma, alongside Madiba’s family and his closest friends, has spent time at his bedside. Each and every time he returns to inform us that Madiba’s situation remains stable but critical.
Last week on Friday as Parliament’s Presiding Officers, together with members of different parties, we hosted a wonderful prayer service at the St George’s Cathedral, we have since opened the Parliamentary precinct to all who wish to lay flowers and to say their prayers for uMadiba. As public representatives, we are part of all organic initiatives to wish Madiba well. Wherever Members of Parliament are, we have, as Presiding Officers, appealed to them to initiate and/or join in all activities aimed at this purpose.
Sisisele senyathi uDal’ibhunga. Sisisekelo sesizwe uMadiba. Ngumnatha ohlanganisa yonke imihlambi yelizwe looBawomkhulu. Ngudiza’ dala kade bemkwahlaz’ uRholihlahla. Nguthambo dala kade bemqongqotha.
Prison could not break Madiba’s spirit and his faith. Neither has retirement, and now ill-health, reduced Madiba’s irresistible presence among us. In his sick-bed, Madiba continues to bring us together as a nation in reflection, hurting yet celebrating.
Siyacamagusha sithi vuka uphile ntonga yesizwe. Xa sizinikela kwimfundiso yakho sithi kufanelekile ukuba umsebenzi owuqalileyo wokwakha isizwe uphumelele.Singabanye ngabanye kule ndawo sikhumbula umsebenzi owenzileyo, ngobugorha nangokuzinikela. Siyathembisa kananjalo ukuba asingekhe sakunikela umva wena nako konke oko ukumeleyo.
“We are not yet free,” Madiba reminds us, “we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step on our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road.”
The legacy of apartheid remains so tragically obvious throughout our country and is particularly visible in our poor communities. Inequality prevails. The damage caused by the architects of apartheid and entrenched for decades by many laws is a constant reminder that the struggle is not yet over. Sky-scrapers and huge buildings define the cities’ sky-lines while shacks and other makeshift structures are homes to the majority of our people.
While 1994 was a major historical turning point, it did not result in a reversal of centuries of dispossession for the majority of our people. Political freedom, critical as it is, did not bring about economic freedom. Most of our people still have nothing to show for their hard-earned freedom. This is an important reason for us not to let our guard down but to continue with Madiba’s project for the total liberation of our people, politically and economically.
As your parliament, all the various parties in our institution and as public representatives, we need to pull together our energies and focus on what our President Madiba declared that parliament must lead the fight against the evils of poverty, disease and ignorance. We want to recommit ourselves to bettering the lives of all South Africans. This prayer is indeed meant to evoke our inner strength, to refocus us in the work ahead in honour of his honourable name. This is a solemn pledge we want to make and to which we swear our complete loyalty.
Ikwaliqhula ke kambe ingxilimbela yasebaThenjini.
uMadiba simkhumbula ngezinto ezininzi eziquka noburharha obucubhula ngentsini. Let me share some of the beautiful light moments which he shared with us in Parliament.
You know, Madiba would draw laughter from the opposition benches while firmly castigating them for what he called their negativism.
Once he reminded the Opposition in Parliament that examples of oppressed people going to their oppressors and inviting them to sit down and talk are "few and far between". He then turned to the National Party members, who by then were looking quite embarrassed, and said in earnest "We want you to be part of the majority." He paused, then added: " I am not asking you to join the ANC". Then again he added an afterthought. "But if you want to, I won’t fight with you."
Little ones don’t spare anyone, not even Madiba. In Soweto a little girl asked Madiba if it was true that he had been to prison. Before he could answer she further asked if he had done something bad. “No,” Madiba said. But other people thought he had and they sent him away. “Then you must have been very stupid,” she said as she jumped from his lap to a roar of laughter from him.
We have a responsibility, each one of us citizens of this miracle nation, to sustain the legacy of Madiba. In each one of us he lives and as long as we live Madiba too shall live.
We should, in everything that we do, spare a thought for Madiba’s family who is his own words “suffered more” than he himself did. “To see your family, your children being persecuted when you are absolutely helpless in jail, that is one of the most bitter experiences, most painful experiences, I have had. Your wife being hounded from job to job, your children being taken out of schools, police breaking into your house at midnight and even assaulting your wife...’ Madiba said.
Through this untold suffering, the Mandela name became etched in our hearts, in our national soul as one of a kind. It is a name that inspires awe and one which we have a duty to respect, preserve and hold dear.
Allow me to conclude by quoting Madiba speaking about his late comrade and friend uTat’ uSisulu, Madiba said: ‘In a sense I feel cheated by Walter. If there be another life beyond this physical world I would have loved to be there first so that I could welcome him. I now know that when my time comes, Walter will be there to meet me, and I am almost certain that he will hold out an enrollment form to register me into the ANC in that world, cajoling me with one of his favourite songs we sang when mobilising people behind the Freedom Charter:
Libhaliwe na igama lakho
Kulo mqulu wenkululeko
Vuma silibhale kulo mqulu
Wenkululeko’
Long live Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Long live the unity and solidarity of our people
Ukwanda kwaliwa ngumthakathi.
