Mlambo-Ngcuka, at the 11th Memorial lecture of the late Archbishop Dennis
Hurley, at the Holy Family College Hall
13 February 2006
Cardinal, Wilfred Napier,
Archbishop of the Durban Diocese,
Church leaders,
It is an honour and privilege for me to be here with you tonight, at the
annual lecture to commemorate Archbishop Dennis Hurley which also coincides
with the launch of his memoirs. We hope the publication of his memoirs will
further reveal the inspiring life of Archbishop Hurley in all its fullness, and
that we will be once again be reminded of how important he was to all of us -
as Christians and South Africans in general.
I have been tasked with the responsibility of speaking mainly on the role of
women in a democratic South Africa; I feel that it is important that I reflect
on the life of this truly remarkable and outstanding person who believed in
women because it gives me, like I am sure many of you had, an opportunity to be
enriched.
Our country will always remember Archbishop Hurley as one of the most
progressive priests of his time. In fact ahead of his time we remember him as a
uniquely fearless opponent of the apartheid regime and a man of great honour
and principle.
Not only was Archbishop ahead of his time, he had many firsts his
consecration as the youngest bishop in the world in March 1947, and his
consecration as the youngest Archbishop in the world in January of 1951, was
remarkable, we should have known he was destined for greatness and he did not
disappoint. He became a great leader through his ministry and as a citizen.
Archbishop Hurley was a champion of the poor, the downtrodden and the
oppressed who focused on the essential socio-economic concerns and not just the
legalist worth of human rights, his was about the person.
In the early 1950s, Archbishop Hurley was one of the first church leaders to
come out openly and in full support of the struggle. This he continued to do
throughout his life without fear of what the Church or government would
say.
This he did when it was still not fashionable for church leaders to do so.
It was through his actions that many church people were galvanised to join the
struggle and take sides in the struggle between evil and good. He used his
position to win support for the liberation struggle.
Even arrests and victimisation could not stop him from speaking out against
apartheid injustices. Hurley was himself arrested in October 1984 and charged
with "telling lies" and defaming the police when he exposed the barbaric
activities of the Koevoet security squads in Namibia, but the prosecutor
withdrew the charges the following February when it appeared likely that Hurley
would be able to prove the truth of his statements.
He received many death threats and on one occasion his house was petrol
bombed. All these threats to his life and persecution did not deter him, as he
continued to make his meaningful contribution in the struggle for justice.
Ladies and gentleman God blessed us in Catholic Church in KwaZulu-Natal with
someone who can only be described as a gift that we must continue to cherish.
His life has lessons that are relevant today. Real leaders do not stay within
the defined paradigms they redefine the paradigm, they think outside the
box.
In relation to women, he was ahead of his time again, believing in the
leadership of women and in ordinary women. To have supported ordination of
women, contraception especially in the face of HIV and AIDS epidemic
distinguished Archbishop Dennis Hurley as a profound believer and a
realist.
In our country today we have made a lot of progress with regard to moving
institutional and legal barriers that discriminate against women. Women have
demonstrated their leadership and resilience at different level of our society.
But for our lecture today I want to speak about the category of women leaders
whose role I want to highlight in my speech.
They are the Care Givers, who with limited resources dedicate themselves to
those in need. They leadership provide relief where it hurts most.
Some would be professionals working in hospitals. Social workers, teaching
disabled children in home based care. These are women leaders who make our
society humane.
The women in visible and powerful positions like me have to take a leaf from
the care givers as it is our collective task to build a caring nation and a
developmental state. To do that we need to appreciate nurturing qualities of
women and not down play them which we sometimes do in order to tackle the boys.
What the world needs today more than anything else is nurturing and Caring
skills to close the gap between those who live a fulfilling life and those who
are just surviving. That is what our country also need. To mainstream the
caring values in authority.
Uplifting of women heroes to greater heights within and by the church is
therefore crucial so that the church plays a role in highlighting the strength
in caring leadership that is associated with women and the church.
Many of us have been exposed to the mainstream concept about of leadership
have wondered how those who start wars can become celebrated leaders. As women
we need to speak loud against this aggressive leadership.
As we move to the Local Government Elections on 1 March 2006, let us
remember the legacy that Archbishop Hurley left us and make sure that we honour
his memory with dignity and respect by ensuring that one of his lifetime goals,
the empowerment of women, is achieved.
Today women occupy about forty three per cent (43%) of Cabinet positions
with many of them heading critical traditionally male portfolios such as
Justice and Constitutional Development, Foreign Affairs, Land & Agriculture
and Public Works.
Four of the nine Premiers heading the provinces are women and women comprise
about a third of national parliamentarians. Womenâs representation in municipal
councils at local government level is approaching the 30% mark, and it is to be
hoped that this figure will rise appreciably to around 50% when the local
government elections are held. This is a rich platform and working
together.
This is a cohort on whom we must build this developmental and caring state
together with man.
In Archbishop Dennis Hurley we had a leader who could balance and at all
times in favour of the poor but not narrow minded at the same time. We too have
to uphold the agenda that is pro-poor and crucial for sustainable
development.
We now seek to align our economy hence we talk not only about growth but a
shared growth. Growth that is only measured on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is
important but that is not adequate we believe if we have to consider shared
growth. We need together to find ways to work within this capitalist society we
live in for growth that is shared.
That is whey we are talking about a linkage between the 1st and the second
economy. We have chosen accelerated growth in which the state gets directly
involved. We have chosen:
1. Fixed direct investment â R320 billion worth of infrastructure â to cope
with the growth and provide basic services.
2. Direct link with second economy through small, medium and micro enterprise
(SMME), Co-Ops, Youth National Service, Early Childhood Education capacity in
municipality and earning the social wage.
3. Human Resource Development is key.
We can only do this work through partnership. We count on you as partner in
this work especially to ensure we achieve the sharing objective. We welcome
your theme for the year that supports the teacher.
And I want to thank you for inviting me to share my thoughts with you on
this memorable occasion. May the spirit of Archbishop Hurley always be with us
and continue to inspire all of us, as we struggle to make the world a better
world for all, including women.
I thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
13 February 2006
