The Very Rt. Rev. and Dean of the Cathedral Church of St Georges, Reverend Michael Weeder,
Special and honoured guests,
Dear fellow citizens and proud South Africans.
With all protocol observed, Good afternoon to you all!
This is the fourth week since the father of the nation, our first democratically elected President of our Republic, our very symbol of reconciliation and peace, uDalibhunga, uMadiba, has been in hospital due to ill-health. For most of this time, including yesterday’s update from the Presidency, his situation has been described as critical.
We have seen images of people of all colours and creeds, people from all walks of life, including visitors from other countries, converging at the entrance to the Pretoria Heart Hospital to say their prayers, to lay flowers, to sing, dance, to praise and to shed tears for Madiba. These activities continue unabated and are being replicated throughout our country. In metropoles and villages alike – people have united around a single purpose, sharing the same pre-occupation, to wish Madiba well.
Our nation has been on pins and needles. It is a reflective period for our people. The thought of Madiba being unwell is unsettling. The thought of Madiba in hospital, indisposed due to illness is harrowing. This is not what we wish for our beloved hero.
Who can ever forget that outstretched hand ready to greet? Who can forget that contagious smile and warmth of the heart? Who can match that extraordinary humanity, the willingness and readiness to forgive and to love.
Nelson Mandela, indeed akakh’ ofana nawe. You are one of a kind. Your place in our heart is yours and yours alone. We needed you at the worst of times in our history, we need you now, we need your for eternity.
As we meet at this service today, we are painfully aware of our powerlessness in the face of our hurting soul. Unable to take away your pain, which we so wish we could, we meet here to defer to the higher power, to invite God to take control.
We are here to say a prayer for our father. May God’s peace be upon him. May God grant him His favour and his family strength. We appeal to God in the hope that we, as this young nation, will be united in supporting Madiba and in continuing the project which he started – to build a united, peaceful and prosperous South Africa, free of hunger and poverty.
Today’s service is but one of many activities, events and initiatives in honour of Madiba and to wish him well. We intend to participate in as many of these as possible, as South Africans, regardless of who and where we are from.
While Parliament was in recess, we met and as presiding officers of parliament and agreed to partner with the rest of society to deepen the mobilisation around Madiba and his family to celebrate the legacy of our preeminent Icon. This we shall do with the support of all political parties represented in parliament.
Our work as public representatives was long ago set out for us. Even when we sway from the principles or practices that anchor us, we quickly remember the teachings Madiba shared with us as members of parliament in a multi- party democracy. And for this, we will forever be grateful.
In his maiden address to a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament, Madiba said: “The government I have the honour to lead, and I dare say the masses that elected us to serve in this role, are inspired by the single vision of creating a people-centred society.
Accordingly, the purpose that will drive this government shall be the expansion of the frontiers of human fulfilment, the continuous extension of the frontiers of freedom. The acid test of the legitimacy of the programmes we elaborate, the government institution we create, the legislation we adopt, must be whether they serve these objectives”.
In committing ourselves as public representatives, this is the time to focus our energies on what President Madiba pronounced when he declared that parliament must lead the fight against evils of poverty, disease and ignorance. We want to recommit ourselves to bettering the lives of all South Africans.
This prayer is indeed meant to evoke our inner strength, to refocus ourselves in the work ahead in honour of his name. We keep him in our thoughts and pray for his family and to God to protect him in whatever manner possible. Madiba is, of course, also be remembered for some beautiful light moments he shared with us in Parliament. Let me share some of these with you.
At a closing parliamentary session before his speech Madiba paused to take a deep drink from the glass of water at the podium, and then opened his speech with: "I expected in this final session of the current parliament that I would be given something a little stronger than water."
Again, during a visit by a foreign President, a photographer was walking backwards ahead of Madiba and the visiting dignitary taking pictures and he suddenly fell backwards into a pond. Madiba moved fast to help him out, but fortunately some security personnel got there first. “And that”, Madiba told the visiting President, “is our pool photographer”.
How many know that it was Madiba’s remark to Pieter Mulder, Leader of the Freedom Front Plus, which inspired the title of the latter’s book, Kan Afrikaners Toyi-Toyi. When Mr Mulder complained that the SABC neglected Afrikaners at the time, Madiba quipped “I often see a lot of people toyi-toying in Parliament when they are not pleased, but I have never seen Afrikaners toyi-toyi. Can Afrikaners toyi-toyi?” he asked.
It is this natural humour combined with an extraordinary intellect, a formidable personality and an impeccable character which makes Madiba such a complete human being.
Our prayers are immersed in pride and in the conviction that we will and must sustain the legacy of Madiba, he remains the son of the soil, an international leader, the father of the nation, and an astute leader, a reconciler and a builder of our nation and nations beyond us, an Icon of a truly free South Africa.
In his farewell speech Madiba reiterated the multi-party character of our parliament in these words: “I pay tribute to all parties represented in this parliament for their contributions to the progress we have made; though we have our differences, often important and sometimes profound. We have as a collective demonstrated our overriding commitment to the new order that we have together established. Members have ensured that this Parliament is not a rubber stamp in the hands of government, and have given birth to a new democratic, political culture...”
These are but some of the principles and practices anchoring the legacy of Madiba as the first democratically elected President of a free South Africa in our parliament.
As your Parliament and as public representatives, we will attend all multi faith prayer services and all the other initiatives in honour of Madiba wherever they occur. We will be broad and inclusive to ensure that the legacy of Madiba, as a unifier extraordinaire is sustained in the best manner possible.
Long live Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela! Long live the unity and solidarity of our people!
I thank you!
