Programme Director,
Executive Mayor,
Mayors and councillors present,
Distinguished guests,
Residents of Lephepane,
Members of the media,
All others present and all protocol observed.
Good afternoon!
Programme director,
Tomorrow, the 18th of July 2012 marks the 94th birthday of one of the greatest icons ever, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. We are gathered here today to pay homage to this global icon of peace, human rights and international struggle for social justice, democracy and economic emancipation. We all know Nelson Mandela, our Tata Madiba, whose legacy is the freedom we are enjoying today.
He is an anti-apartheid activist and a leader of the African National Congress. He is the world great statesman, a man who sacrificed all he had, his future, freedom and family to fight for a free democratic South Africa. He was so dedicated to the struggle for freedom that he was even prepared to pay the highest price. We are talking of a man who was determined never to surrender but rather die as long as the world and its people were not living in peace, harmony and having equal opportunities irrespective of race, gender and creed. His kindness, courage, generosity and willingness to forgive remain unequaled to date.
In our celebration today, it behooves of us as responsible and noble citizens to pause and reflect on the great deeds that this icon has done for all of us. Madiba gave 67 years of his life fighting for the rights of humanity. On a day like this, we are here to do our part in giving and sacrificing 67 minutes of our time to service our communities.
It is a responsibility we must take seriously if we are serious about changing the world into a better place. 67 minutes is such a little time to give to such a man who has impacted so many lives and as such we should make every day a Mandela day as we go about our daily responsibilities. It is a call not for single once-off of charity but for commitment to social justice and for cultures of service to those in need in our society. We all know the key challenges our communities are facing and we call on those who are privileged to confront the desperate plight of society’s have-nots.
We trust that the Nelson Mandela month will serve as a common platform to serve humanity and to deepen and entrench the spiritual philosophy of Ubuntu and its inherent values of equality, freedom and justice for all. What remains horrific are the statistics on equality, poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment, corruption and crime.
We should know all these negative things I have just mentioned mean that Madiba’s ideals are far from being achieved and we should continue to pursue all the things that took away 27 years of his freedom. Our activities throughout the month and beyond should be real and aimed at changing the material conditions of our people. We must celebrate Mandela by waging a fierce battle for a better life for all.
Programme director, Empowerment through access to decent housing, skills development, safe water, sanitation, affordable energy and cohesive and vibrant communities are all important for the recovery of humanity. To be treated with respect and dignity by one’s fellow citizens and by those who have the responsibility of providing public service is important for the recovery of our humanity. This is how Madiba conducted himself through and through before he retired.
Since Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first democratically elected president of the Republic of South Africa in 1994, we have scored a number of milestones in the terrain of service delivery. My department’s achievements since 1994 with reference to the provision of housing in this district are as follows. We have completed 37 712 houses in Mopani district. In Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality, we have completed 8 037 houses and in Lephepane, where we are right now, we have completed 132 houses with no blocked projects in this very area. I must admit, we still need to do more for our people.
Today, in the spirit of Tata Madiba, who has given us so much, we have identified people over the age of 90 years throughout the province. In the Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality, we have identified two of them; they are Mamaila Maria Mauleke of Xihoko village and Sekobo Mmamatome Maenetja of Mogapeng village. Mamaila Maluleke is 94 years old while Mmamatome Maenetja is 98 years of age.
We will be giving them food parcels all in the spirit of giving and generosity embodied in the legacy of Nelson Mandela.
Ladies and gentlemen, we also handed over houses to three less privileged families: the Botopela Family, Gaffane Family and the Rasealoka family. Believe it or not, the dignity of these three families will never be the same again. It has been restored in a massive way and we celebrate with them today. This is exactly what Madiba was imprisoned for and we shall continue to restore dignity to many other families in our communities.
To successfully do that, we need more great people in our communities, people who can use their skills and wisdom to improve other’s lives. Remember, not everyone has what you have. So use it to help others. By doing so, you will be journeying to real greatness, just like Madiba. Simply put, one’s greatness must be determined by the number of people one has affected positively.
I am convinced and believe that should we master this unselfish way of doing things, we will intensify our war against poverty and provide as many of our people with decent quality housing and other important services.
As many of you know, as government, we have made it very clear that we will place the most vulnerable members of our society high on our priority list when we allocate houses. The most vulnerable members are those who are destitute, orphans, the elderly, sickly or people living with disabilities.
We also have stated that it will be impossible for us to meet the needs of all our people by ourselves as government. We have to enter into sustainable partnerships with all stakeholders if we are to mount a serious challenge against poverty and unemployment.
The task of developing the province belongs to all of us, whether we are public officials or private citizens. We want a province where all of our people have access to basic services and all other amenities in proximity. Without inputs and contribution from our partners, this goal will be very difficult to achieve. While the work is still huge, we should rejoice if we manage to provide anyone with decent shelter because what it means is that we have less family living in squalor in our province.
We must relentlessly amass our collective power and demonstrate against all those who continue to use their race and class to dominate and oppress the weak and poor. Equally, we should mobilise all necessary and available resources to continue fighting for a world that Madiba was willing to die for.
Mandela was a soldier and never glorified violence. He was a soldier of peace. He retired from politics with his dignity and integrity intact. He never abused his power to enrich himself or his family. That is why we must all the time sing with pride that indeed “Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela, there is no one like you”.
Let us all go out and make a difference by placing the lives and needs of our poorest of the poor in our hands. It is only our collective leadership and efforts that can see us building sustainable communities. Without doubt, Mandela and others have laid a firm foundation for service delivery work to go on. He was indeed the servant of the people. We all say South Africa, we have come so far, we have seen so much. We really need to do so much more!
Long live Madiba, Long live!
I thank you!
