His Royal Highness Kgoshi Selelo Seakamela
Bakgoma le Bakgomana ba Mabokela Traditional Authority
The Chairperson of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders,
Honourable Members of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders,
Leadership of Contralesa
Esteemed Traditional Leaders of our province
Head men and women
Executive Mayor and mayors
Honourable councillors and other community leaders present here
Stalwarts and Veterans of our liberation struggle
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Programme director,
I would like to express my appreciation to you all for giving me this opportunity to speak at this important occasion of the coronation of Kgoshi Selelo Abram Seakamela 11. We describe this day as important and special because it is where government, traditional leaders and the community at large are joining hands as one to recognise Kgoshi Selelo Abram Seakamela 11 as the leader of our people.
This august ceremony is another example of how the ANC led government understands the important work done by traditional leaders in our province. By legitimising traditional leadership in the ambit of our democracy, our government has long sent a clear message: that the important role that is played by traditional leaders in our country, particularly in our rural communities, remains unchanging and paramount in our developmental state.
Over a period of time, this coronation ceremonies has been effectively used to encourage our people to continue speaking about our culture and celebrate them as part of our heritage. As Africans and Blacks, we must stand together and never forget that we have the same history of sufferings and struggle. We must be united by our shared history which was made by brave men and women like Malebogo, Sekhukhune, Ngugunyani, Makhado, Madinoge and others who worked very hard to make us who we are today.
We are walking in the footprints of great warriors whose enormous weight of organic intellectualism propelled other human groups to appreciate the existence of Africans, we are part of the human race and our journey in this race is written in sweat and untold amount of hardships which was practiced against our forefathers .Our generation still living with wounds which were caused by many years of deprivation which condemned us to the lowest level where we were treated like mere objects.
Traditional leadership in our country has lived for many centuries and will continue to do so. It is our pride as the people of South Africa, and a tradition that cannot be separated from us. History tells us that this is an institution that has survived and stood the test of time under very difficult times during the dark era of dispossession and apartheid. There were concerted efforts by our oppressors to constantly undermine traditional authority and to separate the leaders from their own people. It was during this difficult time that our traditional leaders managed to redirect and refocus their energies towards the advancement and development of their own people.
Today as a country under the ANC Led government, we live in an era of democracy, we have a democratic government in the capable hands of the hands of the ANC leadership, we have a democratic government we can all be proud of, and one which takes on board traditional leaders in decision making processes, one which respects our traditions and customs. That is why we have traditional leaders represented in both national and provincial spheres of government.
This democracy, of which our traditional leaders were in the forefront in bringing about, has brought us an important opportunity to rebuild a society torn apart by colonial and apartheid rule which had no regard for human rights and dignity. It is incumbent on all of us to as we recognise Kgosi Seakamela 11 the leader of this community, to put together what was broken when communities were displaced and forcibly removed from their land, when families were separated by the apartheid migrant labour system and when Bantustans were used to divide us as people living together in peace and harmony.
This history says to us that traditional leaders must now occupy a critical place of leadership, must provide leadership and partner with strategic sectors of our society to make communities just and prosperous. Government alone cannot transform this country, but as a united nation, united behind socio-economic challenges, we will win and succeed and our communities will celebrate the leadership we provide as well as our existence. The triple apartheid legacy challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality awaits our credible leadership and proper understanding of the material conditions under which our people live to properly eradicate.
It awaits us to engage and collaborate because these challenges are prevalent and the greatest in our rural communities in our rural communities, which are the most disadvantaged, where you and I come from and live daily. We cannot be bystanders when all the odds are stacked against us. We must partner on programmes that will create opportunities for youth and women, encourage participation of this community in their own upliftment and also build capacity for traditional authority to work with national and provincial government to meet the needs of this community under the leadership of Kgoshi Seakamela.
There is a growing consensus across all sectors of our province that in a province like ours, no development and no fundamental change can ever take place without the input of traditional leaders. As history beckons, the ancient African philosophy and practices of governance was indeed visionary, participatory and involving people through dipitso, dikgoro and other forms, which were able to bring communities together. Today still, many developmental challenges which we face require the wisdom and contribution of traditional leaders in our system of governance, as the interface of communication and the improved delivery of services to the rural poor.
Whether the issue relates to moral regeneration, housing, agriculture, tourism, mining or any other that you may possibly think of. None of these can ever be addressed adequately without tapping on the rich wisdom of traditional leaders. Working together with the traditional leadership in the province, we know as the ANC led government that during the years of freedom and democracy, we have been able to bring clean water, electricity, sanitation, decent housing, health care and decent education to millions of our people, especially in rural communities. Traditional leaders are perfectly placed to help us to continue with this important task. We know there is still a lot of work that will take many years to complete, we believe strongly that with your help we can fasten and speed up delivery in an endeavour to reach our people whose needs must still be met. They also deserve a government service and we count on your support to deliver basic services to our people who rely on us as the ANC led government.
As leaders in our communities, we urge you to make clear to our people, as we go to the general elections next year, how difficult it was to operate as traditional leaders under the apartheid government. We urge you to make clear how it was like to have your rightful authority undermined by our oppressors. We call on you to make clear the progress that this government has been made so far in transforming the institution of traditional leaders and the service delivery work that still has to go on in partnership with the ANC. Let our people know in your community meetings that the ANC led government will not fail irrespective of the massive job at hand created by the apartheid government. We know the needs of our people because we live with our people.
As leaders in our communities, we urge you to speak out against societal challenges such as crime, teenage pregnancies, HIV and AIDS as well as alcohol and drug abuse. It is incumbent on all of us to encourage our children to focus on education as a tool to end intergenerational poverty and the cycle of hopelessness. We must ensure that education becomes a community issue by encouraging children to take subjects that will help grow our economy so that we make poverty history and overcome the critical skills challenge, more especially in our municipalities.
Traditional leadership disputes are still a critical challenge facing our government and the House of Traditional Leaders. More often these disputes surfaces more especially after the passing on of a Kgoshi. We applaud the Seakamela Royal Family for appointing Abram Seakamela as Kgoshi succeeding his father, who passed in 2012 without fighting about it. Let other royal families emulate this conduct. We call upon all those traditional leaders who are involved in leadership disputes to fully cooperate with the Kgatla Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims for speedy resolutions of such claims.
Our people need leadership. The Commission which started its work on May last year has been hard at work since its inception. Of the 522 leadership disputes received, it has to date completed 72 cases with about 50 currently receiving attention. We expect the Commission to be done with its work of settling all the submitted disputes by end of 2015. We hope and believe that the settled disputes will go a long way in stabilising and bringing stability and development in our communities.
Our province hosted a very successful 2013 initiation school season with no death cases reported and it is all because of the good bond and cooperation we have with our Senior Traditional Leaders. We strongly believe that initiation schools are an important part of our culture that must only be promoted, but must also be protected at all costs. It defines who are and traditional leaders are sole custodians of our heritage and this ancient cultural practice. We all know that no initiate deserves to die because of negligence of some people.
Programme director, Although the province had a death free initiation schools, we were disturbed by the high number of illegal school despite our many calls to Senior Traditional Leaders to ensure that must not happen if your application has not been approved. We once more appeal for cooperation in this important regard. We must operate within the prescribed laws for the sake of our young boys who should enjoy this important passage to manhood and return home being men of values and cultural ethics. We need to work together on this issue as it is highly unacceptable to run an initiation school without the necessary approval from the department and this is a practice that we cannot allow to continue.
We know that a traditional leader is a traditional leader because of heredity and tradition, but also because of the people they serve. We call upon our people, that whatever challenges are, we must continue to accord the necessary respect and dignity to the institution of traditional leadership in all its diversified form. Equally, Traditional leaders themselves need to conduct their affairs in a more dignified manner in order to earn the respect they rightfully deserve.
I would like to conclude by quoting the words of former president, Thabo Mbeki in 2008 when opening the National House of Traditional Leaders. President Mbeki stated: "The challenge for traditional leaders is that they now should assume an active role in the newly reconstituted Councils and newly established Houses to ensure that their communities participate meaningfully in development and service delivery initiatives as these are the vehicles for development and service delivery in traditional communities through co-operative partnership". It is only through partnership that we can succeed.
May I therefore congratulate Kgoshi Selelo Abram Seakamela 11 in your appointment and recognition today as you assume your new responsibilities. Yours will be no easy task because the needs of our people are great and they deserve a better life. But together we can make a reality of our dream of dignity regained and a better life for all. I would like to emphasise that the task of strengthening democracy in our country and improving the lives of all South Africans is the responsibility of all leaders in our province - traditional, religious, business and the elected.
Our government will always depend on your support in carrying out its mandate and obligations, especially in rural communities where the majority of our people come from. We join many in this community and indeed the whole of Limpopo in wishing Kgoshi Seakamela 11 the best for the future. May his community prosper under your sterling leadership!
Thank you.
