Ndebele, at the gathering with older persons at Parkside
22 October 2006
Respected and honoured senior citizens of our province.
Thank you for celebrating this important occasion today where we give
honour, recognition and respect to our mothers and fathers in the month of the
aged. It is not that we should ignore you, our elders, at other times of the
year but to spend a day in recognition of the role you play in our lives, your
children should be set aside from the others.
As you gather here from all walks of life I greet you as your son and want
to remind you that your children from all over the country, all over the world,
send their warmest greetings.
Giving guidance
When I turned 56 years in 2004 on my birthday I spent time engaged in an
interaction with the veterans. It was an eye-opener to interact with the
veterans who provided me with invaluable knowledge to lead this province since
I was only six months old as the Premier of this province then. I clearly
recall the words of wisdom from people like 'uBaba uPass Four' and many others
who gave me advice from their past experience of where and how to take the
province forward.
As your sons and daughters trying to make a better life for all and as
leaders of the provincial government, we enjoy this kind of interaction with
you. I know we meet at izimbizos and other gatherings but hearing you and
meeting you face to face is a bonus for us all.
It is indeed a great blessing to honour our old people. A society that
forgets to pay tribute to their older persons loses the essence of their
invaluable contribution they have made to the community. You are of great value
to this province. Old people are often the source of our historical, cultural
and socio-economic developmental heritage.
Most unfortunately old persons in our community form the most vulnerable
group of our society. They are victims of neglect by their children who entrust
them with the forceful responsibility of raising their grand children often
with their old-age pension grants. Due to their unfortunate life-time of
suppression and hardship of different forms, they are usually more susceptible
to chronic ailments and the inevitable ageing process itself.
Getting old in today's society is harsh. The levels of poverty which affect
the elders mostly is devastating, we hear of rural old people who have limited
access to health care, we hear of inadequate facilities for older people to
socialise and we hear of shysters stealing old age pensions. The list will go
on.
It is indeed appalling to mention here that many old people are subjected to
family and community violations of their rights. We have to assure you that as
this provincial government we are here to protect you.
In April 2005, the office of the Premier, situated at 300 Langalibalele
Street, established the rights of older persons within the Human Rights Chief
Directorate. The person in charge of that unit is Dr Nonhlantla Mkhize who is
here today. The office is responsible for the co-ordination and monitoring of
the respect, promotion and protection of the rights of older persons.
In other words Dr Mkhize and her team are the watchdogs of our elders. We
are busy building this office and in November this office will hold a summit
with a theme, "Towards serving and caring for Older Persons in KwaZulu-Natal".
This will create a platform for government to listen to older persons,
establish the KwaZulu-Natal Older Persons Forum, provide information on the
international plan of action for ageing so that we can create a Provincial Plan
of Action and discuss the Older Person's Bill and how we will implement it here
in this province. If you want to know more about this office and the work we
do, please do call Dr Mkhize on 082 499 4787 or the office number is (033) 341
3300.
Development
We want you our mothers and fathers to share and enjoy the developments we
are experiencing in our province. Our province is engaged in great
developmental heritage programmes where we commemorate the role of our heroes
and heroines in the struggle for our democratic freedom. During this day we
paid homage to our freedom fighters like Inkosi uBhambatha kaMancinza, Inkosi
uSigananda kaZokufa, uMahatma Gandhi, Dr John Langalibalele Dube, Florence
Mkhize, Dorothy Nyembe who went to prison in 1969 and was the first woman to
serve a sentence of 15 years in jail, uMabhida, uHarry Gwala and many
others.
These people played a vital role in our democratic history and our
heritage.
You are aware that in 2010 we shall be hosting the Soccer World Cup and
developments are in progress. We urge the youth in particular to play a pivotal
role in sport activities so that we do not become spectators when the games are
at our door-step but active participants. With this come exciting new projects
like the development of a stadium in eThekweni, the International Airport at La
Mercy, etc. There will be economic income to those people who will take
advantage of these events by marketing their own products like handicrafts,
beadwork and so on.
Our expectations are very high. We need your input in the transformation of
our province. You have a world of experience that you can share with us. We
shall always welcome your contribution. We need to establish a close
partnership with you to engage in robust discussions to learn from your past
experience.
While it is a time for us to reflect on giving honour to the aged, it is
also a time to celebrate life. It I turned 59 years old on Tuesday. In a
birthday one tends to look back from the time when one was still a toddler. You
think of the family contribution to your shaping up and moulding into a human
being with values and moral fibre to take us through the world. You recall the
influence and contribution from your peer groups which helped you to become
what you are. Yes of course you remember the teachers who also played a vital
role in shaping your brain. All these things put together make you what you are
today.
I would now like to take this opportunity to thank you for joining us to
celebrate the elderly and with me getting older, celebrating my own life.
I am also grateful to my immediate family, my siblings, Sis Thoko, Sis
Thembi, the late Sis Dudu, Sis Nomsa and Sis Winnie. Thank you very much. I
would also like to thank my elder brother, uRev Amos Mandla "bhuti" for his
being a father figure to our family and for his remarkable support. One can not
forget to also thank our children, uNombuso and Zwelonke, who also have an
important role in their own way in my life. Last but not least, I would like to
heartily and sincerely thank my wife, uZama, uMabusane, who is always by my
side during happy and difficult times. Without your support, Zama, I would not
be as strong and sustainable as I am. Thank you very much, Zama.
I thank each one of you for coming and spending this special and auspicious
day.
Let us now all rejoice! Masisukume sakhe!
Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
22 October 2006
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kwazulunatal.gov.za/)
