Programme Directors, Pastor Potia and Rev MM Nthali
Executive Mayor of Bushbuckridge Local Municipality; Cllr Renious Khumalo
Members of the Executive Council, MEC Mashego-Dhlamini, MEC Shongwe, MEC Phosa and MEC Mahlangu
Head of Department, Mrs Mahlasedi Mhlabane
Pastors from different Religious Formations
Members of the Mayoral Committees
Councillors
Our guest Pastor, Bishop Zondo
Leaders from the Moral Regeneration Movement
Leaders from the Commission of Religious and Traditional Affairs
Pastors from Ikwekwezi and Ligwalagwala FM
Members of Senior Management
District Management Teams
Circuit Managers
SABC Education Team
Educators
The Media
Ladies and gentlemen
Sanibonani
Yester night, the Holy Spirit occupied its space and showed the province with its presence as we gathered at Ingwenyama Lodge, in White River.
Today we are here in our numbers to do but one thing and one thing only, that is to pray, to worship and give praise to God, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit to reign in the province of the rising sun especially during this time when our learners will be sitting for their examinations.
Your presence at this prayer today gives testimony that we are indeed not alone in the quest to unleash the potential of our youth and to ensure that through acquiring education they are free from the bondages of helplessness, ignorance, illiteracy and poverty.
The Bible says ‘Whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my own father in heaven.
It further says, “For when two or three come together in my name, I am there with them”, (Mathew 18:20).
In this regard, I value and appreciate your response to this call. I lack words to describe adequately my delight in that you have been able to attend to this prayer evening.
At the occasion of the delivery of the 2011/12 Policy and Budget Speech on 14 May 2011, I reiterated our appreciation for the noble role that our pastors continue to play to ensure that there is stability, peace and prosperity in our country and Province in particular.
To this effect I said “We are aware of men and women who worked so hard behind the scenes for the attainment of this outcome.
We acknowledge that our pastors under the auspices of the Moral Regeneration Movement and Commission on Religious and Traditional Affairs in Mpumalanga and other structures that make it their obligation to pray that this country and province prosper in its vision for a better life for all”
Any nation that does not invest in its youth does not deserve its future.
It is in this context that the Provincial Government took a conscious decision that we should gather in this manner to pray for:
- All learners who will be writing their examinations this year with special emphasis to the grade 12 learners
- A seamless, incident free examination administration process
- Our learners to be prepared and to conduct themselves in a manner that can uphold the integrity of the examination
- Our communities to render unwavering support to schools during this time
- For our roads to be safe medium for all our activities.
We must pray and ensure that the 49 419 full time candidates will be sitting for the Grade 12 Examination in 523 examination centres from the 17 October to 1 December 2011 do so without any challenges.
Performance of Bushbuckridge
We are collectively saying, enough is enough, that learners of Bushbuckridge District will continue to be on the last lap of learner performance.
This municipality deserves to progress like all other learners in different parts of our country.
We are in one voice today, denouncing all forms of helplessness in this part of our province.
We are today through prayer reclaiming the right position of Bushbuckridge District.
This district used to be one of the best, renowned politicians, business persons, professional and academics, come from this Municipality.
It cannot be that now, it is unable to produce quality results that we can all be proud of.
I want to extend my appreciation to the Bushbuckridge Municipality, in that we the Provincial Office said it is organising a prayer, they called and said it will be prudent that it is hosted in this Municipality.
Thank you very much Executive Mayor and your team, we remain indebted to your love for the people of this Municipality.
It is always said, “That which man proposes on, God disposes off”.
In this context, we are saying, God did not bring us this far, to leave us in the lurch. And, here we will pray for the continuous manifestation of His merciful, gracious, righteous and just nature.
We say so because we trust in the Almighty power to command the angels to safeguard and preside over all our plans.
This day, will go down in the history of Mpumalanga province as the day when we stood in agreement and embraced the words of David, when he prayed to God for victory in psalms 144:12.
“May our sons in their youth be like plants that grow up strong. May our daughters be like stately pillars which adorn the corners of palace. May our barns be filled with crops of every kind”.
In this regard, I take this opportunity to extend our best wishes to all learners who will sit for the final examinations.
I am confidence that learners have gone the extra mile to ensure that they do extremely well in their academic work, assisted by all stakeholders of the education sector.
It is prudent that every effort is put in place to ensure that learners are prepared and ready to participate in their examinations.
To achieve this, it is necessary that learners focus on their studies, stay in contact with their educators by attending their classes until the last day of the examination.
The department seeks to ensure the seamless exams administration and management as well as uphold the integrity of the examination process and its outcomes.
We request parents and community leaders to support schools and learners during this time by making it their responsibility that school programmes progress without fail.
I also request learners to make the province proud by performing outstandingly in their school work.
“Government has your interest at heart, show us your true potential and excel in your studies”
Let me take this opportunity and express our appreciation to the leaders of the Moral Regeneration Movement, the Commission for Religious and Traditional Affairs and to all other Religious institutions that played a role in the coordination of these prayer sessions.
Allow me, as conclude, to convey the humble apology from the Honourable Premier, Mr DD Mabuza, who would have loved to be among us today had it been not the other commitments he had to attend to.
It is comforting however, the message I just read, is the message he sent me to deliver at this prayer session.
May all our dreams and progressive desires about the future of our children be realised through prayer.
Ngiyabonga.
