Programme director
Members of the Nkondo family
Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe
Members of Cabinet
Premier and MECs
Fellow South Africans
Today is a moment tinged with both sadness and contentment. We are filled with sadness because today we say our final goodbyes to Comrade Curtis Nkondo, a teacher, a diplomat, a leader and an activist in the struggle towards ensuring a better life for all South Africans.
Today is also a celebration of a life well lived. We pay our respects to a role model in the fight for liberty and justice. We celebrate a lifelong democrat and revolutionary, a hero of our country’s democratic struggle, and a champion of decent, equal education for all.
Ladies and gentlemen, two days ago we marked International Human Rights Day. The theme for this year was: ‘Embrace Diversity, End Discrimination’. It is this ideal that Comrade Nkondo dedicated his whole life towards. In education, he saw the opportunity to overcome the curse of unemployment and poverty that so bedeviled our people. In his two decades as a teacher, he sought to educate his pupils beyond the confines of the Bantu Education system.
That we produced a generation of capable leaders, despite the best efforts of the apartheid regime, is in no small way due to the likes of Curtis Nkondo. His efforts in educating our children were even acknowledged by another stalwart of that era, the former President of the ANC, Comrade OR Tambo, who urged him not to abandon the country but rather continue the pursuit of educating our nation.
It is a message that he took to heart and one which he dedicated his life towards.
Compatriots, this year we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS). It was formed in response to the deteriorating standards of education of the 1976 era, and the need for students to be organised behind the progressive movement. It was an era in which comrade Nkondo played a prominent role.
He provided leadership in various positions. As principal of Lamula High School he taught students that freedom was not negotiable. He provided leadership as Chairperson of the Soweto Teachers’ Action Committee, President of the National Education Union of South Africa, Vice President of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union and a member of the Soweto Education Coordination Committee.
We are pleased that his visible commitment to ending apartheid and to decent, equal education for all was recognised by the Gauteng Department of Education in 1999 and by the Soweto Education summit. Both conferred awards on him. In this era of freedom, we call upon our teachers to commit to non-negotiables such as being in class, on time, teaching, not to abuse learners and not to neglect children.
We are in essence talking about a teacher such as Comrade Nkondo who realised the liberating effect of education. He remains a role model to all teachers as he went above and beyond the call of duty. His actions reaffirm the importance of teachers in our communities and in our society. Education will continue to be a priority for this government which sees it as a means to liberate the minds of our people, grow our economy and improve the socio-economic status of our people.
As we all know, Comrade Nkondo’s role in the struggle for freedom went beyond the classroom. He was instrumental in the formation of the United Democratic Fund (UDF), and became its Transvaal vice president. He was part of the campaign to make the country ungovernable, which eventually led to the capitulation of the apartheid state. During this time the ANC had taken a strategic decision to intensify the levels of mass resistance inside the country.
Comrade Nkondo suffered immensely for his role in fighting for the liberation of his country and his people. He was targeted for increased state surveillance, intimidation and detention. In 1984, he and 15 other UDF leaders were detained and charged with high treason. The trial lasted 16 months before the state withdrew the charges. During the state of emergency in 1986 to 1987, he went into hiding, working underground to support the ANC. We must emphasise that Comrade Nkondo came from a generation of leaders who sacrificed their lives for the struggle. They were not motivated by reward, but by the pursuit of a just and fair society. It is these ideals that should permeate our political life.
Compatriots, we appreciate the fact that Curtis Nkondo was able to serve in government and serve his country, as the South African Ambassador to Namibia.
Although thrust into a new role away from the educational arena that was his forte, Comrade Nkondo rose to the challenge of strengthening relations with this very important neighbour, sister country and former partner and ally in the struggle against apartheid. He distinguished himself as an efficient and skilled diplomat, who was able to articulate the positions of our country on issues.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning to lose our stalwarts and elders. We are worried that these distinguished patriots, who are reservoirs of knowledge, leave us with no written legacy and no lessons for our youth. This is a lesson for us that we must use our elders and stalwarts effectively to guide our youth.
They must teach them what it means to be South Africans, what it means to love and work for this country, selflessly.
Our elders should teach our youth about various periods and phases of our struggle for freedom, about Curtis Nkondo and various leaders of our country.
They must learn from them the road we have travelled to get to the era where we can say we live in a free, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa.
Our elders must teach our youth about Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Bram Fischer, Florence Mophoso, Dorothy Nyembe and all our leaders who remain beacons of true South African spirit.
They must teach them about the fundamental guiding principle of non-racialism, and why we say this country belongs to all who live in it, black and white.
Our elders should teach our children and youth about the role played by other Africans in the struggle for our freedom.
In honour of patriots such as Curtis Nkondo, our youth must understand the role of countries such as Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Algeria, Uganda, Angola, Ethiopia, Cuba, the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and a host of others, in solidarity with us to help us achieve our freedom. Due to isolation because of apartheid, our country remains insulated and is somewhat non-receptive to cosmopolitanism.
We need to attend to this factor if we are to make our people understand the role of foreign nationals who are in our country legally, contributing to the life and economy of our country. We owe this to the memory of our stalwarts who understand the role of internationalism in any struggle for freedom. We extend our deepest condolences to the Nkondo family who bore the brunt of his dedication to the struggle.
His family knew that they had to share him with the people of South Africa, and with the struggle for freedom and justice. We thank the family for that sacrifice and understanding. On behalf of the government and the people of South Africa, we take this opportunity to thank the family for accepting this role that the played. The family should remain strong in the knowledge that his life has been an inspiration to many South Africans, both as a teacher, a liberator and a diplomat in the service of his country.
To comrade Nkondo, thank you for your selfless contribution to the development of a free South Africa to which you dedicated your life. May you rest in well deserved peace, dear selfless patriot!
I thank you
Issued by: The Presidency
12 December 2009
Source: The Presidency (http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/)
