Address by Speaker Baleka Mbete (MP) on the occasion of the Nelson Mandela Museum Colloquium, Nelson Mandela Museum, Mthatha, Eastern Cape
Theme: “The South Africa of Nelson Mandela’s Dreams: Social Cohesion and Nation Building”
I am honoured to be part of today’s discussion which reflects on a pertinent topic not only here at home but across the world. As we witness unfolding events in the USA, the UK and other world capitals recently; the urgency of nation building and social cohesion across societies, cannot be over emphasised. The late President Tata Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela urges us to pursue these talks, he constantly insisted on a spirit of a UNITY of PURPOSE as we pursue them.
Nelson Mandela would be the first to remind us that no tribute should be for him alone. The movement of which he was a part depended on an entire generation of leaders, like Walter Sisulu, OR Tambo, Gertrude Shope, Mme Mompati and many others.
Having said that, I wish to underscore that Nelson Mandela’s contribution will stand for all time, among those who gave birth to this nation and those who defended it; a man who somehow gave voice to our deepest dreams and our most lasting ideals, a man who stirred our conscience and thereby helped bring us together as a nation.
Sixty One years ago, thousands upon thousands of our people gathered in Kliptown to articulate the South Africa of their dreams through the drawing up of the Freedom Charter, with the resounding resolve to “pledge and strive together , sparing nothing of our strength and courage, until the democratic changes set out have been won”. This powerful intent enjoined all of us to nation-building and social cohesion.
Thus, in this year of the 61st anniversary of the Freedom Charter, and 20th anniversary of our Constitution, the issue of our variety of identities and the overarching sense of belonging to South Africa needs to be better canvassed across society, in a manner that strengthens our unity as a nation.
Two critical sectors of our society also marking important anniversaries are our youth who recently celebrated the 40th year of the Soweto uprising and the women who mark 60 years of the August 9 women’s march of 1956.
As we seek to accelerate our progress, we are thus duty-bound to ask the question - have we all fully internalised our responsibility in building social cohesion and promoting a common sense of belonging, reinforcing the glue that holds our nation together!
Twenty two years into democracy, as a nation, we are largely still struggling to find a shared common national identity. It is thus important that we keep raising the discussion of national identity and social cohesion in South Africa. This is more so as signs of racism continues to be evident among us.
I wish to suggest that we continue to reflect on how we regard the Constitution and how we internalise its acknowledgement of our diversity. How do we foresee unity within this framework? Similarly how do we ensure that in building a national identity we do not sow divisions with those who may not belong to the national geography and also those who do not possess citizenship? These concerns must be noted because collective national identity should transcend colour, culture and religion.
I wish to emphasise as well that measures required to improve social cohesion cannot be undertaken by government alone. We must together as South Africans speak of freedom from want and from moral decay, and work to attain the happiness that comes with it. Indeed this was the vision of Nelson Mandela.
And yet it is also important to remind ourselves that such progress did not come easily; that Nelson Mandela’s faith was hard-won; that it sprung out of a harsh reality and some bitter disappointments.
It is worth remembering that progress did not come from words alone. Progress was hard, it was bought with years in jail cells and nights of bomb threats. For every victory during the height of the struggle, there were setbacks and there were defeats.
We forget now, but during his life, Nelson Mandela was not always considered a unifying figure. For very long, sections of society vilified him, denouncing him as a terrorist and an agitator.
We know from his own testimony the doubts and the pain this caused him, he however, always managed to see the bigger picture - he was a true visionary.
I raise all this because twenty two years after Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as our first democratic president, his work is not yet complete.
We gather here at a moment of great challenge and great change. In the last 22 years, as a nation we have been tested on many fronts. We have been tested by the tragedy of HIV and Aids, by an economic crisis and its aftermath that has too many of our people out of work, and poverty on the rise, and millions more just struggling to get by.
Indeed, even before this crisis struck, we had endured a decade of rising inequality and moderate growth. In too many troubled communities across the country, the conditions of our poorest citizens appear little changed from what existed before- there’s inadequate health care, constant violence, neighbourhoods in which too many young people grow up with little hope and few prospects for the future.
We know too well, that indeed, many of the challenges in improving services to our people derive in part from inadequate capacity and systems to monitor implementation. As such, the issue of the organisation and capacity of the state must remain high on our agenda.
As the African National Congress, we have agreed with our people, that programmes to improve the capacity of our local government system must be accelerated.
We have also undertaken to continue to respond to the challenges identified by communities and we will undertake all necessary tasks, informed by our Local Government Strategic Agenda, which includes hands-on assistance to municipalities by national and provincial structures, the deployment of skilled personnel including professional volunteers from the public, and strengthening the Ward Committees.
In the overall scheme of things municipalities have great potential to contribute to the growth and development of our country through growing local economies and the building of public infrastructure, thus stemming the tide of migration, which would deprive local economies of much needed human capacity.
Our people must become involved, our people must once more become an active citizenry. We all have a duty to turn out in our millions to vote on 3 August. Let us encourage one another to do so- this is democracy in action, this is a tangible expression of nation building.
Our work is not done. And so on this day, in which we celebrate a man and a movement that did so much for this country, let us draw strength from his teachings and his life.
First and foremost, let us remember that change has never been quick. Change has never been simple, or without controversy.
Progress depends on persistence and determination. We must insist on always being at the forefront of improving our democracy, and translating this into tangible outcomes- a better quality of life for all our people.
We must remember Nelson Mandela’s teachings, even after all of us have the vote, and hundreds of laws have been passed to improve our people’s lives, the majority of Africans still find themselves trapped in pockets of poverty across the country. Nelson Mandela did not say those laws were a failure; he didn’t say this is too hard. Instead he said, let’s take those victories and broaden our mission to achieve not just civil and political equality but also economic justice; let’s fight for a living wage and better schools and jobs for all who are willing to work.
In other words, when met with hardship, when confronting disappointment, he kept on pushing us towards hope and the promise of better life.
Encouraging all of us to quote his words: “To do more - as it always seems impossible until it is done”.
And so, as we consider all the work that we must do, such as rebuilding an economy that can compete on a global stage, and includes all not just some of us, and fixing our schools so that every child, not just some, but every child, gets a world-class education, we must make sure that our health care system is affordable and accessible to all, and that our economic system is one in which everybody gets a fair opportunity and everybody does their fair share, let us not be trapped by what is.
We can’t be discouraged by what is. We’ve got to keep pushing for what ought to be, the kind of South Africa we ought to leave to our children, mindful that the hardships our people face are real. However if we maintain our faith, in ourselves and in the possibilities of this nation, there is no challenge we cannot surmount.
As said earlier, let us draw strength from Nelson Mandela’s inspiration from his constant insistence on unity of purpose. Let us believe in his words that “we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
We are bound together as one people, and must constantly strive to see ourselves in one another, is not to argue for a false unity that papers over our differences and ratifies an unjust status quo. We stronger united, we can achieve more if we have a common purpose. A united South Africa is the dream of Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela understood that peace without justice was no peace at all; that aligning our reality with our ideals often requires the speaking of uncomfortable truths. But he also understood that to bring about true and lasting change, there must be the possibility of reconciliation; that any social movement has to channel this tension through the spirit of love and mutuality.
If he were alive today, I believe he would remind us that the communities have a right to protest against a lack of services without burning down the very amenities meant to empower those who need it the most. He would remind us that the unemployed worker can rightly challenge the excesses of big business, that business can enter tough negotiations with unions without vilifying the right to collectively bargain.
He would want us to know we can argue fiercely about the proper size and role of government without questioning each other’s love for this country, with the knowledge that in this democracy, the ANC led government is no distant object but is rather an expression of our common commitments to one another. He would call on us to assume the best in each other rather than the worst, and challenge one another in ways that ultimately “heal the divisions of the past” rather than wound one another.
Nelson Mandela never stopped reminding us that despite all the hardships we’ve endured, for all our tragic history, ours is a story of optimism and achievement and constant striving that is unique upon this earth.
