This year’s State of the Nation Address will again take place in the evening to enable people to tune in to proceedings, which will be broadcast live.
The ceremony is again a full ceremonial one involving a mounted police escort and a military ceremonial motor escort, the lining of the President’s route by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), a national salute by the Ceremonial Guard of the SANDF and a military band (the South African Air Force Band on this occasion), a salute flight by the South African Air Force and a 21-gun salute.
It also includes civilian participation along the walk by the President, accompanied by Parliament’s Presiding Officers and the Secretary to Parliament, from the Slave Lodge to the saluting dais in front of the National Assembly building. A praise singer, Mr Mahlola April Moloi from the Free State, will greet the President as he enters the National Assembly Chamber.
With the dawn of our democracy in 1994, the State of the Nation Address became a celebration and public participation was added to the ceremonial activities. This is former President Nelson Mandela’s legacy to our State of the Nation Address proceedings.
Members of the public take part in the ceremony through a Junior Guard of Honour (comprising high school learners), a Civil Guard of Honour (comprising representatives of civil society organisations) and Eminent Persons (nominated by Provincial Speakers from our nine provinces).
Parliament’s theme for this year’s State of the Nation Address is “socio-economic development through oversight and public participation”.
The conventional Westminster view of oversight is often adversarial and, in some instances, seen as the role of opposition parties, not the legislature. In our context, oversight is more corrective than adversarial. It is also the responsibility of the legislature as an institution.
Parliament is also currently finalising a Public Participation Framework to enhance public participation in our work. The framework seeks to integrate public participation into Parliament’s core functions, including its oversight work.
The State of the Nation Address is an opportunity for the President to assess our country’s domestic and foreign situation and to set out the direction that we should take to improve efforts to achieve a better life for all.
Guests attending this year’s State of the Nation Address include:
- Members of the public who took part in a radio campaign run on nine SABC radio stations
- Members of the public whose names were selected in a random draw
- The top matriculants for 2012 - one per province. Six of the nine are girls.
Unfortunately, some of the nine cannot attend because of study commitments.
The matriculants who will be attending as our guests are:
- Febin Thomas Korula (Selbourne College Boys High, Eastern Cape)
- Christiaan Bronkhorst (St Andrews Combined School , Free State)
- Ngoanapedi Mmadikgetho Komane (Glen Cowie Secondary, Limpopo)
- Calvin Shingirai Mawere (Bushbuckridge Secondary, Mpumalanga
Former President Mr Thabo Mbeki and Mrs Zanele Mbeki – subject to Mr Mbeki’s programme in the Sudan.
- Former Deputy President Ms Baleka Mbete and guest
- Former Deputy President Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and guest
- Former President FW de Klerk and Mrs Elita de Klerk
- Former Chief Justice Pius Langa and guest
- Former Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Frene Ginwala and guest
- Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum and Speaker of the National Assembly of Mauritius, Mr A Peeroo
- Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Seychelles, Mr Jean-Paul Adam
- Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Mr
- Walter Mzembi (who is a guest of our Minister of Tourism, Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk)
The State of the Nation Address will be streamed live on Parliament’s website and broadcast live on radio and television and the Government Communication and Information System has arranged for its broadcast on big screens at a variety of venues in all provinces.
Detailed information on the various public participation categories invited to the event will be made available to all of you:
- The Eminent Persons (together with profiles on each one)
- The Civil Guard of Honour
- The Junior Guard of Honour
- Members of the public whose names were selected in a random draw to attend the
- State of the Nation Address as Parliament’s guests
- Big-screen public venues organised by the Government Communication
- Information System, together with a contact number for more information about these big-screen venues
Eminent persons
Note: information contained in these profiles of the eminent persons was obtained from the Provincial Legislatures.
Eastern Cape: Mr Sipho Prince Ndabana
Mr Ndabana joined the African National Congress in 1960. He was imprisoned for his political activism for 10 years from 1963 to 1973 and was banned for four years from March 1974. Mr Ndabana went into exile in 1985 and lived in Lesotho and Tanzania until 1990 when he returned to South Africa.
Free State: Ms Maleshoane Emma Petlekoane
Ms Petlekoane is the chairperson of the African National Congress Women’s League in ward 46, Bloemfontein in the Mangaung Municipality. She is a volunteer care giver and has partnered with the Department of Health and Social Development in caring for people with HIV and disabilities.
Gauteng: Mr Isaac Makopo
Mr Makapo has served in the African National Congress (ANC) since 1957. During his time in exile he held a number of positions and responsibilities. These include as a commander of Umkhonto we Sizwe, a member of the Revolutionary Council of the ANC, Regional Treasurer in the Office of the Chief Representative in Zambia, head of the National Logistics Department in Exile, a director of ANC Settlements at Mazimbu and Dakawa in Tanzania and member of the People’s Tribunal. He was also the ANC Representative in Botswana for nine years.
KwaZulu-Natal: Mr Riot Makhomanisi Mkhwanazi
Madonso Mkhwanazi was one of the first people who defied apartheid laws by burning his dompas in 1930 during the burning of the dompas campaign. His son, Riot, followed in Madonso’s footsteps and lived up to the names his father had given him.
In Durban, where he went to seek work, Mr Mkhwanazi came into contact with activists such as Steven Dlamini of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), who taught him politics. In 1959 he joined the African National Congress (ANC), the ANC Youth League and SACTU and was active in the defiance campaign and general resistance to apartheid rule.
He joined Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1962 and was arrested in Zeerust, in the Marico Valley in what is now the Ngaka Modiri Molema District in the North West province. In 1964 he was sentenced to 10 years on Robben Island. There he learned to read and write and participated in political education and debates. Soon before his release from Robben Island in 1974, Mr Mkhwanazi, along with other Island prisoners due for release, received a letter from Nelson Mandela.
The letter urged them to continue the struggle where they had left off before their arrest and imprisonment. After his release, Mr Mkhwanazi was banned. He then went into exile and spent many years in Mozambique, until the Nkomati Accord forced him and other ANC cadres to move out. He returned to South Africa in the early 1990s, along with others who had been in exile.
Limpopo: Mr Mokakube Charles Boshielo
Mr Boshielo was among those who attended the 1955 Congress of the People in Kliptown where the Freedom Charter was adopted. He remembers being inspired by the words of the leader to the heavily-armed police who, as a result of those words to them, did not fire a single bullet.
He was active in campaigns against the Pass Laws and other issues of apartheid rule. He was also a contributor to the weekly newspaper of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and remembers receiving praise from SACP and African National Congress leader Joe Slovo for his contributions to the newspaper. He joined the party in 1976. From 1984 he was actively encouraging young activists to join Umkhonto we Sizwe in exile. Mr Boshielo is the author of the book Mokone wa Mabula, which was published in the 1970s.
Mpumalanga: Ms Nomvume Constance Stephen
Mrs Stephen was born in the village of edutyini village Mount Ayliff. She joined the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League in 1959 and continued to work for the ANC underground when the organisation was banned. Her husband, Jongilanga Stephen was jailed on Robben Island in 1964 and Mrs Stephen was also jailed for her anti-apartheid activities.
She has worked with a number of agricultural, sewing, home-based care and women’s empowerment projects in the Eastern Cape and the former Eastern Transvaal. She moved to Mpumalanga, where her husband worked for Sasol mining. She has served as a PR councillor in the Gert Sibande District Municipality and as a Member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for Sport, Culture, Children and Gender from 2000 to 2006.
North West: Mrs Thotwane Augustina Matlanyane
Mrs Matlanyane was born and grew up in Maphoitsile Village, ward 17 in the Greater Taung Local Municipality, Dr Ruth S Mompati District in the North West. She worked as a domestic worker in Irene Park, a suburb of Matlosana (formerly called Klerksdorp) and her husband lived in a hostel of the HLH Company in the town.
She was arrested many times in Klerksdorp for defying the apartheid laws that prohibited her from visiting her husband. These arrests opened her eyes to the injustices of the apartheid system and her husband, who belonged to a trade union, was her central influence in political engagements.
In 1983 Ms Matlanyane returned to Taung and started to participate in confronting the then-Bophuthatswana government and organised and recruited for the African National Congress. Presently, she serves in community structures like the RDP committee and the ward committee, school governing bodies and ANC and ANC Women’s League structures. She is also still contributing to the development of the Maphoitsile Village through her involvement in various structures.
Northern Cape: Ms Everlyn Nompumelelo Lubidla
Ms Lubidla served as a member of the National Council of Provinces from 1994 to 2004.
Although she trained as a nurse at Harmony hospital in Welkom and St Michael’s hospital in Kuruman, she also worked for the Galeshewe Municipality for 22 years and was also manager for Lubidla’s Fashions for 10 years. Over the years, she has been involved with a number of organisations supporting worthy causes, including the Helen Joseph Women’s Development Centre, which provides training in sewing and design to women from rural areas. She presently continues to be involved in charity and religious organisations.
Western Cape: Ms Marlene Le Roux
Ms Le Roux has carried out outstanding work in promoting arts and culture in poor communities of the Western Cape. She is disabled and has written a book on her disability and empowerment of women in her position, which has achieved widespread acclaim in South Africa and internationally.
She has received numerous awards for her work, including recognition from the current Premier of the Western Cape during her tenure as mayor of the City of Cape Town. Ms Le Roux spearheaded an industrial theatre production called Soundtrack for life which raised awareness around HIV/AIDS and the struggles young people have to become more aware of the disease. She also initiated the Schools Arts Festival which brings together, on stage, schools from diverse communities with the aim of fostering better understanding and appreciation of diversity.
Civil guard of honour – 25 representatives from each of the following organisations
Ikamva la Bantu, which works with vulnerable elderly people through seniors’ clubs the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust, which focuses on development programmes for youth living in challenged and vulnerable communities the President’s Award, which works in the area of youth development programmes the Ikhwezi Community Centre which works with women and children in Paarl and Mbekweni.
Junior guard of honour - two learners from each province and 28 learners each from six schools in Cape Town. The total junior guard of 186 learners comes from the following schools:
- Cape Town High (Cape Town)
- Gardens Commercial )Cape Town)
- Thandokhulu High (Cape Town)
- Walmer High (Cape Town)
- Sea Point High (Cape Town)
- Trafalgar High (Cape Town)
- St Matthews High School (Amatole District,(Eastern Cape)
- St James High School (Chris Hani District, Eastern Cape)
- Barnard Molokoane School (Fezile Dabi District, Free State)
- Marematlou Secondary School (Free State)
- Rebieck High School (West Rand, Gauteng)
- Mpumelelo High School (Tshwane, Gauteng)
- Mkhaliphi (Hluhluwe, KwaZulu-Natal)
- Ndwakazana (Madlangeni, KwaZulu-Natal)
- Khetho (Giyani, Limpopo)
- Phaswana (Thulamela, Limpopo)
- Siyifunile Secondary (Emakhazeni-Waterval Boven, Mpumalanga)
- Freddie Sithole High (Bushbuckridge-Dwaarsloop Circuit, Mpumalanga)
- Molelwane Secondary School (Mahikeng Local Municipality, North West)
- Zeerust Combined (Ramotshere Moilwa Local Municipality, North West)
- Garies High School (Kamiesberg Municipality, Northern Cape)
- Nababeep High (NamaKhoi Municipality, Northern Cape)
- Langeberg Secondary (Robertson, Western Cape)
- Simons Town High School (Simon’s Town, Western Cape)
Winners of radio competition
- Noluvuyo Foji (Eastern Cape)
- Dimakatso Hobyane (Free State)
- Phalabi Khiba (Gauteng)
- Sandile Mhlaba (KwaZulu-Natal)
- Kutullo Motloga(Limpopo)
- Levin Magodi (Mpumalanga)
- Patrick Dooms (North West)
- Heinrich Terblanche (Northern Cape)
- Lyn Fester (Western Cape)
Random draw – members of the public
- Luyanda Femela
- Mlungisi Makhanya
- Prof. Norman Levy
- Zane Maqetukja
- Steven Taylor
- F Mbambi
- Albertyn Clayton
- Hooran Pahad
- Thobile Ngantweni
- Dennis de la Cruz
- Mfundo Zonke
- Sopumelela Ngaki
- Liso Sisilana
- Deon Khwela
