Frank Chikane, at the National Orders awards ceremony, Union Buildings
27 September 2006
The President of the Republic of South Africa,
The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa and Advocate Bulelani
Ngcuka,
Distinguished nominees of the orders of Mendi for bravery, Ikhamanga and
Mapungubwe,
Representatives of nominees, who are not with us,
Families and friends of the nominees of the orders,
Honourable Ministers and Premiers,
Your Excellencies, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps,
Ambassadors and high commissioners,
The honourable Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP)
and Deputy Ministers,
The Chief Whip of the ruling party in the National Assembly,
Honourable leaders of political parties represented in our parliament and
members of parliament,
Chairpersons of our Chapter Nine Commissions,
The Chairperson of the Public Service Commission,
Chairperson of the Council of Traditional Leaders, Khosi Kutama,
Heads of national departments,
The executive mayors of the Johannesburg and Tshwane Metropolitan
councils,
Members of the Advisory Council for National Orders,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a very great privilege for me to welcome you to this award ceremony
for National Orders. We appreciate the time you have taken to honour us with
your presence.
Special reference has to be made of Dr Albertinah Luthuli who is here to
grace this occasion with her presence. As you would know, their family has
granted us the right to use the Luthuli name for one of our National Orders:
The order of Luthuli. We are pleased that the nation was allowed to honour the
family in this special way.
We must also mention the members of the Advisory Council on National Orders,
not only for their presence here today, but for the sterling work they are
doing in advising and assisting the chancellor and the patron of National
Orders in carrying out their responsibilities. We would like to thank them for
the extra-ordinary service they are offering freely to the people of South
Africa.
Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we gather in this auspicious place,
Mr President, profoundly thankful to those who have distinguished themselves in
the highest causes of our freed nation in so many sterling ways. As you would
know Mr President they include the brave, the literate, the artistic, the
musical, they include the profound thinkers, the great healers, the superbly
athletic, the unforgettable entertainers, they include the great men and women
of historic struggle and they include others of note all of whom have made
their indelible mark on our land.
Those who shall receive the orders of Mendi, of Ikhamanga and Mapungubwe,
will stand as exemplars in the bright light of the very portals of the 'age of
hope' that is inexorably unfolding before us. Their toil, their dedication and
their commitment, past and present will help to light up our way as this
remarkable 'age of hope' marches towards the 13th year of our freedom.
We can now say that we have long since thrown off the yoke of enforced
apartheid, yet, even more than this now we need to strive harder to live up to
the ideals wrought in the fire of principled negotiation of the early 1990s. We
need progressively to end apartheid of the mind to end its informal spillover
to our present times. We need to fill in the gaps in our national mosaic and we
need most particularly to feed, house, care and provide safety and employment
and good health, indeed hope itself for the hungry, the dejected, the
threatened, the sick and the afflicted.
As we do this, we gain inspiration from the splendid human material that is
so boldly reflected here today. We know that delivery remains the watchword of
the nation and we know that those who stand before us, those who shall be
honoured today will help us to achieve a truly noble and essential success.
So we remain steadfastly "united in our destiny", as our Constitution
requires. We know that without one another we have no South African nation as
we have come to know it. Without fulfilling the great material and spiritual
ideals unleashed in 1994, we shall risk stumbling and falling. We need to
humble ourselves before one another offering and accepting atonement for past
wrongdoing in the time of apartheid and committing ourselves to never letting
injustice run amok in our land again.
We are mindful of these things and more as we move towards the end of a year
commemorating remarkable watershed events in our history that inspire us to
move ever forward in a spirit of humility, reflection and dedication.
The President, government and people of South Africa will offer the warmest
of good wishes to those to be honoured here today and to the families, friends
and guests who form such an important part of this procession of hope in these
portals.
The honoured themselves help us to be what we so earnestly need to be: 'a
nation united in diversity; a nation that truly cares; a nation that is well on
track to an honest, respected and successful future'.
We should be acutely conscious of the fact that this procession of hope
which we shall see unfolding before us today encapsulates the very finest
values of our nation. We draw strength as an ever-uniting people from the
nation-building efforts of those to be honoured that were active in totally
different disciplines and pursuits. Some of them bravely opposed past injustice
and rapacious colonialism and paid a heavy price. We draw strength from the
singular patriotism inherent in the prowess of those who showed such immense
courage and persistence to reach the highest peaks of achievement physically
for their country. We draw strength from the melodies, choral excellence,
orchestration, art, acting and words of inspired, creative people so different
yet so united in their national impact. We draw strength from the medical and
scientific skills and insights which gave us hope of good health and a better
life. In these and other ways, we are not only inspired to greater heights of
achievement ourselves, we are also inspired in a spirit of genuine
introspection to examine ourselves, to measure our efforts against these
impeccable norms and to keep up the pace of perfecting and deepening our
beloved democracy.
In this spirit, as Chancellor of these orders, I bid you all the warmest of
welcomes! We are thrilled that you are here and we appreciate the long
distances that you have traversed and the obstacles and personal considerations
that you have overcome to be in our midst today.
I am now honoured, Mr President, to present to you the nominees for the
National Orders who were duly nominated and approved to receive the orders as
prescribed. I hereby invite you, Mr President, to commence with the honours
ceremony in this, our Heritage Month.
Issued by: The Presidency
27 September 2006
