Church of Southern Africaâs District Preachers Convention, Mafikeng
10 March 2006
Programme Director,
Bishops,
Preachers, elders and all leaders of the Methodist Church,
Congregants,
Distinguished guests and delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is truly a spiritually reviving moment for me to share a platform with
members of the Methodist Church tonight and welcome preachers from other
provinces to this landmark Methodist Church of Southern Africaâs District
Preachersâ Convention (MCSADPC).
Being a politician and leader of the North West Provincial Government, I
cannot pretend to know all about the deliberations, discussions and possible
resolutions that will emerge out of this convention. But I am most convinced of
the valuable role that moral guardians like yourself continue to play in the
general welfare of our population as well as the leadership you continue to
provide in our quest for a morally regenerated society.
I hope that just being with you here will demonstrate the highest esteem our
office put members of the church and all faith-based organisations (FBOs) in
the greater role of building safe communities, a humane society and engendering
the values of neighbourliness, human solidarity, Booth as well as values of our
Constitution, democracy and equality.
I have been warned here not to try to preach to this convention for two
reasons. One: I was told I do not have the competency and training that would
surpass the one already possessed by delegates to this convention.
The second reason is even more compelling: It is that all my efforts at
preaching will be totally wasted because I would be preaching to people who are
already converted.
I will therefore reluctantly limit myself to just welcoming all delegates to
this convention and reiterate Governmentâs support for the work that
faith-based organisations like yourselves perform in the creation of a better
life for all people.
As a nation we started the year on a high note, a note about the season of
hope that our country and its people have inexorably entered. We noted that
despite all the challenges in building the kind of society that we all want a
spirit of hope permeated the whole nation in the belief and reality that our
country is indeed changing for better.
There is no doubt in our minds that yesterday was different than today and
that tomorrow will even be better as we strive together to build a province and
a country whose paramount preoccupation is improving the quality of life of all
people.
We may not be rich and satisfied in material terms but certain things like
the legitimacy of our democracy, the increasing growth of our economy and the
general improvement of our peopleâs lives all inspire hope in us that indeed
tomorrow will be better than today and that yesterday belongs in the past.
Events here and abroad about our country continue to strengthen this spirit
of hope for better things to come everyday. Just a few days ago a cast and crew
of our own local film Tsotsi, including two leading actors from Mafikeng
Presley Chweneyagae and Enzi Ngqobe stood proud among the worldâs most highly
regarded platform of film excellence and talent as they won for South Africa
the Oscar Award for Best Film in the Foreign Language Category.
We will never recover from this recognition and the euphoria and the pride
it brings to all us. It further demonstrates to us that despite the challenges,
we remain a winning nation.
Recently again the entire nation witnessed and took part in the third
successive and successful local government elections, underlining both the
maturity of our democracy as well as the hope that the people we elect as
leaders will continue to deliver a better life for all citizens.
I mention all these things because we will rely on you church leaders and
congregants to sustain this momentum to keep this spirit of hope alive until
all of us are able to enjoy a better life.
In particular some of the new councillors coming in to serve the communities
are members of this church. We therefore have increased hope that they will
serve the nation in the most sincere and morally competent way possible, guided
by the values and teachings of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.
South Africa is unique in the world in that it takes matters of nation
building, economic growth and development and the important task of building a
better life as a collective responsibility in which every sector of society has
an important role to play.
We trust that FBOs and the Methodist Church in particular will continue to
serve our society in the manner they have continued to do, including in the
revival of our moral principles.
I have promised at the beginning not to try to preach but please allow me to
remind this convention that this time of the year for all Christians is a time
of reflection, a time of great anticipation and a time of the renewal of both
spirit and commitment as we reminisce on Jesusâ journey to the cross and the
peopleâs journey to salvation.
I therefore would like to welcome everybody to this convention by sharing
these words of scripture from the first book of Samuel, chapter two wherein
Hannah one of the two wives of Elkanah who earnestly prayed to the Lord that
she should give birth to a son. After she gave birth to the son, Hannah sang a
song to God in praise and her words were:
âMy heart rejoice in the Lord,
My horn is exalted in the Lord,
My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies,
Because I rejoice in Thy salvation,
There is none holy as the Lord,
For there is none besides thee,
Neither is there any rock like our God,
Talk no more so exceeding proudly,
Let not arrogance come out of your mouth,
For the Lord is a God of knowledge,
And by Him actions are weighed,
The bows of the mighty men are broken,
And they that stumbled are girded with strength,
They that were full have hired out themselves for bread,
And they that were hungry ceased to be hungry.â
This is the prayer of Hannah that I want to leave you with and I am certain
that the spirit of hope and revival that filled Hannah will fill us all in this
convention as we together seek ways of building safe communities, a humane
society and a better life for all.
I thank you again for this opportunity.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, North West Provincial Government
10 March 2006
Source: North West Provincial Government (http://www.nwpg.gov.za/)
