Program Director
The President of the Republic, Mr Jacob Zuma
Chief Justice
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
The supremacy of our constitution and the rule of law have never been in doubt. And the founding values of the constitution have and will never be compromised. Because these stand out as the defining character of a true democratic system in which freedom, justice and equality are sacrosanct. These are stripes earned by the nation through sacrifice, determination and reconciliation.
Our commitment and respect for the constitution and its supremacy, therefore, derives from the nations’ collective consciousness of the inhuman injustices of the past from which the will of the people emerged as the ultimate victor. This commitment and respect on our part is the profound acknowledgement of the sacrifice made by masses of this country in the brutal struggle for human dignity and freedom.
Moreover, our respect for the constitution is inspired by the willingness of the people to save the country from nearly falling from the precipice. It is also inspired by the unprecedented willingness of the warring parties to see and accept the inherent capacity for goodness and reconciliation in the other. It is this “miraculous” capacity that has earned our nation the world recognition and respect as the embodiment of all that is civil and progressive.
Program Director,
If anything the years of violent political turbulences have taught us it is the ability and power to learn to love and embrace that which you vowed to annihilate, instead of turning us into monsters that are determined to devour the other to an end. This ability does not only serve as the healing balm for the wounded but helps also to ignite the suppressed flame of love and respect on the part of the perpetrator.
It is the ability that forces us to open up to new frontiers of humanity and imbue a strong sense of nationhood based on the need to build as opposed to destroying.
Viewed in this context, the country more than ever before demands that each and every one of us recommits to work for the building of a nation that will place the country on the road to inclusive prosperity, growth and development. In a nutshell, it is the kind of sacrifice we make today that will determine how posterity will judge us.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
The lighting of the Flame of Democracy symbolises our commitment to the founding values of our democracy. It should serve to remind us of our duty to promote and defend our country and constitution at home and abroad. The 15th anniversary is not only a celebration but a consolidation of the gains we have made since the end of apartheid and racial segregation. We therefore cannot afford to revert back to the dark period of our history because that will be tantamount to betraying the legacy of the giants of our struggle both living and deceased.
At this point I would like to take the liberty of drawing from the words of one of our statesman, the former President Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela: "The Constitution of South Africa...speaks of both the past and the future. On the one hand, it is a solemn pact in which we, as South Africans, declare to one another that we shall never permit a repetition of our racist, brutal and repressive past. But it is more than that.
It is also a charter for the transformation of our country into one which is truly shared by all its people - a country which in the fullest sense belongs to all of us, black and white, women and men."
Former President Nelson Mandela. From the foreword to The Post-Apartheid Constitutions: Perspectives on South Africa's Basic Law.
Lastly, I would like to thank all of you for standing behind our flag and constitution. For being the ambassadors of what this country is all about: Love, Peace, Justice and Equality.
Dankie.
Ngiyabonga.
Province
