Topic: “Rev. Enos Sikhakhane and the art of positioning Edendale on the political and religious map of the world.”
1. Introduction
One of the greatest honours that can be bestowed upon an individual is to be asked to deliver a lecture covering the life and times of past heroes and heroines of our struggle for freedom. To deliver only a Second Memorial Lecture in honour of such an illustrious and exemplary South African as Reverend Dr. Enos Sikhakhane is an honour and I am not unmindful of the honour as I do so as an inevitable consequence of the President of the African National Congress (ANC) and President of the Republic’s indisposition to do so, and for whom I have been requested to send sincere apologies for not being able to grace this auspicious occasion.
I wish also to thank Dr. Brigalia Bam, the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) who delivered the First Rev Dr. EZ Sikhakhane Memorial Lecture. I wish to concur with the observations that she made at the inaugural lecture.
To approach a lecture as complex as this one requires some deftness and guile, as if one is walking over eggs without an intention of breaking them, as if one is trying to make an omelette without breaking those eggs. At the same time, it offers the opportunity to be daring in one’s exposition so as to extricate from the crevices of historical oblivion, and bring light, on the life of a person about whom not much was written, but from whom many a comrade, a clergy, a parent and a child, found a reference point to lead responsible, fulfilling and worthwhile lives.
How does one attempt to do this in the paucity of library sources, the forgetfulness of mind, the pervasiveness of amnesia, and the dearth of oral tradition among Africans?
I intend to approach this talk by using a variety of subtopics, which can, in and of themselves, be further atomised for purposes of future lectures so that the life of Rev. Dr. Enos Sikhakhane is comprehensively understood and perpetually celebrated. I will have short biographical details about the subject of our Memorial Lecture, and for this information I am grateful to the material that was made available to me by Mr Mboniswa Sikhakhane. For a political human being like me, delivering a lecture on a clergyman will find it difficult to avoid the inevitable contradistinctions between religion and politics. In a world where people may gain prominence not so much because of what they do, but because of where they come from, and the influence of others on him or her and the reciprocity of that influence, the importance of the geographical locality of Edendale in Mgugundlovu has absolute relevance to this lecture. I will delve into some controversial areas, without claiming any Solomonic wisdom about them, of a clerical nature, such as Liberation Theology, Ecumenism and Interfaith approaches. There can be no discussion on Rev Sikhakhane without any reference to the Edendale Lay Ecumenical Centre and I will touch on this. Finally, I will indicate how our movement, the ANC, has been inextricably linked to the faith-based communities in South Africa. Knitting all these subtopics, shall be the inevitable media of academic discourses of comparison, analysis and synthesis, referencing, quotations etc.
2. A short biography
In order to ground my discussion around the above topics, some biographical details of Rev Sikhakhane are necessary. Who was Rev. Dr. Enos, Zwelabantu, Kush Sikhakhane? More importantly, why would so many people sacrifice their Saturday night to pay tribute to this man?
In the first year after the outbreak of the First World War, in 1915 to be precise, Anton Sikhakhane and Anna MaSithebe, gave birth to a son, about whose achievements, 94 years later, I would have the honour to stand in front of you and talk about. I am bringing in the First World War deliberately because I want to drive to the second point of his biography – that he married his beloved wife, Winnie MaXaba, the daughter of the Shwabades, a qualified nurse, in 1944, a year before the end of the Second World War. His pursuit for peace defies all logic of the domination of war years in his early life. But I am fascinated with
1915, his birth year, because that was the year in which Booker T Washington, an African American leader, whose life so much resonates in Rev. Sikhakhane’s, passed on. As the door closed for African American’s life, a window opened in South Africa with the birth of Enos, Zwelabantu, Kush Sikhakhane.
In his acceptance speech of his Doctorate: Honoraris Causa at the University of South Africa, Professor Otty ETM Nxumalo, another well known South African who is not given the due recognition, elaborated on the study of names, known as onomastics or onamatology. He linked names to the character and behaviour of a person who has been given that name. Thus Nhlanhla would occasionally show some signs of being lucky. Mhlekwa would be laughed at. Gedleyihlekisa? – well we all know what it means. Enos, Reverend Sikhakhane’s first name, has some Hebrew origins, referring to man. In isiZulu, a person is respected for being a Man, not in a gender sense, but by doing things which make it worthy for him to be referred to as a Man of Men. Rev Sikhakhane was a Man of Men. Zwelabantu literally translates to empathy with people. Rev. Sikhakhane did not think of himself living in the world alone, but went to the extent of giving assistance to the people to whom the world belongs – ordinary people. Of course onomastics is not an exact science, and the person may veer away from the name he or she was given, but Rev Sikhakhane never did veer off the behaviour and contribution from the name his father, Anton, had given him. I am not sure of Kush – but if Baba Anton and Gogo Anna were alive, I am sure they would regale us with the reason for Kush, but I know that almost always these third names, referred to in Zulu as, izidlaliso, have some hilarious origins.
Is it not a pity that when almost all African-Americans remember the role of Booker T Washington in their social and political upliftment, little is known about the role of Rev Sikhakhane? Is it selective historical recording that Rev. Sikhakhane is not talked about in the same terms as Mafukuzela who founded Ohlange Native Industrial Institute (to give its original name) in 1901 when he did exactly the same thing some decades later? Is it the sins of the print capitalism of our times that you hardly find library material about this intellectual colossus? We would need our intelligentsia to engage with this issue when African achievers are cast in the language of the “otherness” as if they are residual, and the minor achievements of lesser mortals are trumpeted even if such achievements were of no significance.
You would have to be well-versed with the educational institutions of his time to understand that Rev. Sikhakhane was fortunate to attend some of the best schools in the world – and I am proud to say that, bar for one, they are South African schools. Matiwaneskop Intermediary, Pholela High, St. Francis Training College, Fort Hare University, the University of South Africa and the Celigny Institute in Switzerland. The institutions may be of less influence than the resulting professions that were obtained from them. A T4 – a teaching qualification to the uninitiated - at St Francis College led to a successful career as a principal at Driefontein Higher Primary and Jononoskop Primary Schools. Theological degrees at Fort Hare, UNISA and a Certificate at Celigny Institute in Switzerland led to a highly successful career as a minister. The University of Life led to a successful career as an initiator and Director of the Edendale Lay Ecumenical Centre.
Spread any world political map on any surface and in blindfold point to any spot.
Rev. Sikhakhane has been there, if not physically there, then someone there has heard of him or of his work. He has been there not on holiday, not as a political tourist, not on a shopping spree, but to continue his fight for the recognition of the struggle of the people of South Africa and to raise desperately needed funds.
Rev. Sikhakhane has worked all over the country, and if you were mistaken, you would agree that that he was the only man who could be in two places at the same time. The word omnipresent is reserved for higher authority, and I would not destroy this memorial to so religious a human being to veer towards a blasphemous utterance. Neither would I want to offend the clergy not the laity present here today. But how else would you explain the ever presence of a man who, if not physically present, would be spoken of in so glorious terms?
In his nomination of Rev Sikhakhane for the conferment of a Honorary Degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in 1986, Professor Khabi Mngoma of the University of Zululand, highlighted that after the Ongoye Massacre of 1983, Rev. Sikhakhane and his colleagues at the Interdenominational African Ministries' Association of Southern Africa (IDAMASA) volunteered to supervise the writing of the end of the year examinations in 1984. The students who were able to write after that terrible tragedy owe it to themselves to thank both Rev Sikhakhane individually, and IDAMASA severally, for their efforts and for having been instrumental in the continuation of their academic careers.
The optimism of people like Rev. Sikhakhane oiled the desire for liberation and thus gave hope that the daily struggles of our people were not in vain. During his time, he embarked on an unheard of scheme of urging two million working Africans to contribute a cent a day, totaling R6 million yearly to fund community centres throughout South Africa, for technical schools and scholarships “geared to the post-liberated society.” To him, victory was certain, and this was infused in the minds of many a student, many a worker, many a visitor who had an opportunity to be influenced by his inescapable presence. When the Congress of Trade Unions embarked on a campaign to raise funds within its own ranks to support job creation, I was reminded of this particular effort by Rev. Sikhakhane to involve workers in the amelioration of their own plight.
It was not enough for Sikhakhane to be convinced that victory was certain, but that the youth should be prepared for leadership. In the formation of the DCO Matiwane Youth League, he was true to his own words, that “he did not want to take over, but to draw them out and for them to find out their own direction.” DCO Matiwane had been a prominent member of the ANC himself. Indeed, as we take stock of that corps of youth, many of them could not move away from the objective conditions under which they had grown and from the owner of the name of the person they took their name from, Comrade DCO Matiwane. The academic pursuit, the political activism and community service dominated the lives of these young Comrades. The list of these youth members who came out of the DCO Matiwane Youth League is endless, and I count, among others, Ben Dikobe Martins, Lucky Payi, Sipho Xulu, Sipho Shezi, Mzamo Hadebe, the Gqubule children and many others. To these members, today’s lecture is not sudden epiphany, but a linear progress of their own lives under the direct guidance of people such as Rev. Sikhakhane. These youth members gave true meaning to the phrase: the apple does not fall far away from the tree and that tree was none other than Rev. Sikhakhane.
I wish to pose a question which is relevant during these hard times of global financial recession: Where have you ever heard of a member of the clergy supporting the idea of a bank – a Black-owned bank - and becoming a Bank director himself?
Explaining the Association's [IDAMASA] involvement with the African Bank, Rev. Sikhakhane said, "We decided to invest in the black bank because it is our own, and we will have a say in its running. The only way Blacks can be liberated is through self-discovery, self-help and standing on our own feet just imagine the amount of money we can raise if each Black were to contribute a cent to a fund.”
How I wish Rev. Sikhakhane were alive today to bring some moral compass and leadership of the many of the banks that have taken their investors and shareholders for a ride and dragged the whole world to the global financial meltdown we are just rising away from. But as they say, wishes are not horses.
3. The essence of Mgugundlovu
Is there a correlation between the place and its contribution to the struggle? There is no scientific evidence for this, but Pietermaritzburg, does, in the absence of evidence, approximate this correlation. Mgungundlovu was a seat of power of one of the most powerful Kingdoms in the world – the Zulu Kingdom. It is honour to Mgungundlovu that there are pretenders to the name – Mgungundlovana, Gingindlovu.
The Edendale area of Pietermaritzburg has a population of approximately 220 000 people in a city of some 550 000 people. It contains the bulk of historically disadvantaged townships and informal settlements in the city. There are fourteen municipal wards in Edendale. Some of these wards include areas that are almost rural in character. These are the immediate areas and population that is served by the Lay Centre, but its reputation extends beyond the environs of Pietermaritzburg.
The fame of the place is a function of the people who lay its claim to its space in history. It would be a futile exercise to talk of Edendale and surrounding areas without mentioning some of the luminaries who immediately attract attention once the name Edendale is mentioned. This is the place of Mr Selby Msimang -uNkonka WeFusi - one of the founders of the African National Congress. This is the place of Stimela – Moses Mabhida. This is the place of Professor Nyembezi, an academic and a literary giant of note. This is the place of Harry Gwala, the Lion of Mgungundlovu and of Reggie Radebe, the peacemaker who never saw the peace. This is the place of Qokololo Hlophe, whose relentless nurturing of a soccer loving Pietermaritzburg is unfortunately not matched, yet, I emphasise yet, by the strength of their soccer teams.
I am also very heartened that although they could have chosen the safety of their cloistered environments of their convents and universities, people like Professor Aitchison and many members of the Pietermaritzburg clergy, never forgot to be part of the history that was happening in Edendale. In secret acknowledgement of the resistance of the people of this place, and in whispering tones, the chattering classes acknowledge that if this place had not resisted, we would not have a KwaZulu-Natal whose provincial Government the African National Congress now leads. I wish to add, that were it not for the sacrifices of the people such as Reverend Sikhakhane, this place would have been dominated by the exploits of the Loop Street brigade and not the work of the Edendale Lay Ecumenical Centre. The hunters would be telling the stories that should be told by the hunted.
I am certain that there are many ex-Edendale residents who have migrated to leafy suburbs of the Grange, Pelham, Hilton and others. But I am also certain that they use these leafy suburbs as dormitories and on weekends they are found in Edendale and surrounding areas because of their attachment to it. It is a place with a name, a people with a history, a training ground for leaders, a birthplace of heroes and a production line for revolutionaries.
4. Liberation theology
The issue of the so-called “trouble some” clergy in South Africa should be viewed within a broader context of the church as a terrain of struggle and justice. When theologies that openly support democracy do so, they are charged for being the “ANC in prayer.” The accusers who used the word “troublesome” have suddenly taken off their thinking caps, and choose a historical route which forgot that Apartheid had its State church which was a mirror image of the ideological postulations of that State. It was a church that was divided according to race and spatial locations in line with the stipulations of the Group Areas Act. Peter Walshe captures this church succinctly.
He states: “By the late 19th century, the White Dutch Reformed Churches were intimately associated with the rise of Afrikaner nationalism.as the 20th century unfolded, an Afrikaans language movement, the Afrikaner National Party, a secret society, the Broederbond, separate volk schools, various welfare organisations and the Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Organisations all helped to strengthen the white nationalist movement, that was to capture the South African state in 1948. Afrikaner corporations helped to consolidate that power – SANLAM, Volkskas and Federale Mynbou being prominent. Afrikaner leadership was nurtured within the White trade union movement. Having gained control of the State, Afrikaners also came to dominate the civil service as well as the extensive parastatal sector of the apartheid economy.
I am not rubbishing this particular denomination, and I am not robbing the interfaith project in its forward march, but wish to highlight one thing, that when our political freedom came in 1994, it also freed some denominations from their own ideological idiosyncrasies.
Rev. Sikhakhane’s work approximated this Social Christianity. But Social Christianity and the Liberation Theology that underpinned it was not a South American invention, although Latin American theology did much to promote it. It did exist within a number of scriptures but was deliberately not interrogated because its inarticulaion served a particular political order. I will, in line with our ideological conviction underplay the labeling of such a theology as Black Theology.
Theology, in my view, has no colour. It is a spiritual fulfilment covering all races and creeds, and once it is labelled, it plays into the segregator paradigm which our struggle has successfully defeated.
This strand of theology assisted the democratisation project within the church by exploring relationship between Christian theology and political activism, covering in its wake such crucial democratic ideals such as social justice, fighting poverty and the attainment of human rights. It destroyed the individualistic approaches of dominant denominations and the Holier-Than-Thou attitude which some of them adopted. Berryman saw liberation theology as "an interpretation of Christian faith through the poor's suffering, their struggle and hope, and a critique of society and the Catholic faith and Christianity through the eyes of the poor".
Guiterez saw liberation as “a secondary reflection and the first commitment was to reverse the plight of the poor.
Moltmann illuminates this issue further when he states: ‘This [Liberation Theology] does not mean merely salvation of the soul, individual rescue from the evil world, comfort for the troubled conscience, but also the realisation of the eschatological hope of justice, the humanising of man, the socialising of humanity peace for all creation.” These are the issues with which Rev. Sikhakhane was endlessly ceased and when other priests and clergy went full steam ahead with the application of the theology of liberation in their sermons and missionary work in their engagement with the apartheid state, I am sure that the shadow and approving smiling face of Reverend Sikhakhane hung and still hangs, over their pulpits.
5. Ecumenism and Interfaith approaches
If there is an explanation of what ecumenism is, an undated document, “A Message to the People who call themselves Methodists” explains it better than any other source. Allow me to refer to this document in order to explain in clear terms, what, I understand, ecumenism means.
Starting from the venue they used, the document states that: “The people called Methodists gathered in Pietermaritzburg for the 120th conference of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa in true ecumenical fashion. Our opening service was conducted in the Anglican Cathedral, our conference sat at the NG Kerk Sinodale Sentrum, our Memorial and Eucharist services were held at the United Congregational Church and our Ordination Service celebrated at the YMCA.”
In relation to the contextually of religion to the world’s current problems, this document states that “the Presiding Bishop emphasised and challenged the participants to become aware of our responsibility to take care of our creation as the world is faced with global economic recession, environmental degradation, declining public health, food insecurity, the lack of service delivery and the energy crisis. He further reminded us about the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer and that the petition for bread comes before the other petitions for forgiveness and protection from temptation.
In the same document, there is an account of Rev. Dr. Steve Gruchy who highlighted the challenges regarding declining water resources and access to water especially for the poor.
If you peruse this undated document, you will also notice that the Church discussed issues such as the FIFA 2010 World Cup.
This is the summit at which the political and he religious rendezvous as I will show towards the end of my talk today between the religious community and the ANC`. In the amelioration of the scourge of poverty and hopelessness, we are one with the faith-based, particularly this strand of theology.
6. The Lay Ecumenical Centre
It would not be possible to pay homage to Rev Sikhakhane without aligning his name to the Edendale Lay Ecumenical Centre, which in his own words, was “an oasis in a desert of segregation.” Bricks and mortar, height and architectural distinctiveness are defining attributes of buildings and concrete jungles except for one building – the Edendale Lay Ecumenical Centre. If buildings could be personified and assume the characteristics of human beings, I can conclusively surmise that the Edendale Lay Centre would be a politician. But it would compete with other well deserving attributes – it would be an organic agriculturalist, a seamstress, a dress maker, a poet, a cultural worker and a linguist, for through its doors walked all these various people, aspirant, expert and otherwise.
I am disturbed that when the centre was opened, “Whites couldn’t get over the shock that Black people had undertaken this task and were successful.”
Sikhakhane observed that “at its official opening, not one White Minister from his own church showed up.”
Rev. Dr. Sikhakhane referred to the Centre as “an oasis in the desert of segregation.” Let me digress to prove that Rev Sikhakhane was a scholar by using this phrase. What informed this choice of phrase in reference to the Lay Ecumenical Centre were references to other luminaries who went before him. I will mention only two of these.
Writing of the establishment of the Young Men’s Christian Association in Kings Mountain, in North Carolina in the United States, Benjamin Elijah Mays, in his autobiography, “Born to Rebel,” uses the same phrase. Mays goes further in the same vein as Rev. Sikhakhane when he established the Lay Centre and states that the [Kings Mountain] conference could do these things “because it is under the auspices of Negro executives and administrators.”
In his seminal address, I Have a Dream, Martin Luther King Junior also refers to the notion of the oasis: He said, “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”
The Lay Centre need not be viewed as the only proof of Reverend Dr. Sikhakhane’s industry and toil in a litany of his achievements. Having built, or participated in the building of, six church buildings, one of which is the Methodist Church in G2 KwaMashu, where my family and I attend. I am aware that in the 1960s the foundation stone for this Church was laid by Rev. Dr. Enos Sikhakhane.
There is evidence that a number of meetings of the then South African Students Organisation (SASO) were held meetings at the Edendale Lay Ecumenical Centre. At one of the meetings, held from 5 to 8 December 1971, the topics covered were so comprehensive as to resemble an engagement of issues at the level of a Cabinet Committee. You would have to go through the minutes of those meetings to have a sense of South Africa’s who is who of leaders in politics business and academia. There is evidence that on 23 November 1979, the Azanian Students Organisation (AZASO) was formed at a conference held at the Edendale Ecumenical Lay Centre. For the memory of Rev. Sikhakhane and honour to the centre, would it not be appropriate for all its alumni and past tenants to submit evidence of their association through publishing their accounts, donating pictures, talking more about it, raising funds and applying for resources to the centre?
Looking at the educational disciplines and fields of expertise that were taught by professionals at the Lay Centre, there would be no fear of compunction that Rev Sikhakhane looked beyond the mountain. On 1 December, that is this last Tuesday, was World AIDS Day. Way back then, the Lay Centre predated the preventative measures currently espoused by giving sex education lessons. Sex education in those days was taboo, there was organic farming (and as we speak big supermarkets pay a premium for organically produced foods). There was management training long before MBAs became fashionable. There was ballet,
Hair styling, music, long before anybody thought that these art forms and pursuits would one day be sources of wealth accumulation as they are now.
7. Religion and Politics
I have earlier on raised the issue of the religion and politics. As a member of the ANC, I have been amazed by how an organisation that has been castigated for being a reincarnation of evil has displayed religious traits that surpass many who stood on the soap boxes of religious correctness. For Rev. Sikhakhane to have combined both his religious life and political life was exemplary, and from people like him, the African National Congress has found examples of embracing religion while fighting for the liberation of our people. The two have never been mutually exclusive.
How has the ANC displayed its positive disposition to the faith based communities? I will only cite a few examples: On 18 September 2009, the Commission for Religious Affairs (CRA) of the African National Congress, soon to be elevated to a higher body within our movement, and the South African Council of Churches (SACC) met at Chief Albert Luthuli House as part of a series of engagement between CRA and other faith-based organisations with an objective to hammer out a formula for cooperation amongst all religious sectors in light of the contemporary challenges facing the SACC, the ANC and the country.
Oliver Tambo, one of the stalwarts of the ANC and revered leaders of our movement opined that: “The ANC has a long history of association with the Church. Our founders were church men and women. Throughout our years that link has never been broken."
Our first President, John Langalibalele Dube was an ordained priest. There is a host of other leaders and ordinary members of the ANC who were ordained priest or laity in some form or other. Many members are also members of their congregations, and in their wardrobes, the Khakhi, green, black and yellow of the ANC uniforms hangs side by side their church uniforms.
Former President Mbeki was alive to this cooperation when he argued that the transformation of our country requires the greatest possible cooperation between religions and political bodies, critically and wisely serving our people together. Neither political nor religious objectives can be achieved in isolation. They are held in a creative tension with common commitments. We are partners in the building of our society."
In June 1997, President Nelson Mandela met religious leaders to discuss a partnership to bring about transformation. Neither religion nor politics could succeed on their own: they needed to cooperate. The response was to form the National Religious Leaders Forum (NRLF), an international 'first'.
The faith based community has never wavered in its desire to assist the ANC government achieve its objectives, and Government has been steadfast in assuring the religious community of their right to assemble and to propagate their faith without fear.
In October 1999, after discussions between religious communities and political parties, the NLRF convened a moral summit. Religious and political leaders across the board attended the event. They agreed to find the cause of our moral problems and to seek the answer together. Cooperation to build a successful nation would come first. The ANC strongly supports this process of national moral renewal in its booklet 'Ethical Transformation'.
A meeting, convened and chaired by Pastor Ray McCauley of Rhema Ministries, was attended by more than 20 senior religious leaders from different faith-based formations throughout the country. United under the theme "Thuma Mina/Roma nna or Send me", religious leaders have decided to form an action based structure named the National Interfaith Leaders Council (NILC). The establishment of this Council is also in response to President Jacob Zuma's call for the religious community to partner with Government to establish a cohesive and caring society including an enabling environment for sustainable development.
8. Conclusion
The Reverend tried to improve the lot of his people, I have no doubt that his activism was closely monitored and scrutinised by those who feared the mental freedom of Black people that he was inculcating. For him, it was activism under fire.
In relation to peacemaking, I can only remember the sad passing away of Comrade Reggie Radebe and Chris Hani. When they began to engage in peacemaking, they were unceremoniously removed from this earth by enemies of a democratic society. I have therefore no doubt in my mind that somewhere in the hidden files at Loop Street, a file with the name of Rev. Sikhakhane existed. I may venture to say that a bullet with his name might have been around somewhere in dark corners.
I know that even though the Lay Centre is a place of peace and worship, and which we are admonished never to desecrate, and where people running away from injustices could find refuge, there were times when its activities were monitored and the temptation to destroy it was always there. There were always enemies at the gate, but the Centre and people who were entrusted to run it, soldiered on regardless.
I have begged your indulgence and attentive ears to a lengthy talk, and have regaled you with what I know to have been a life well spent. It is indeed an honour to pay tribute to Nonhlevu who did not only live by the words and deeds.
From my talk , we can make bold, that Rev Sikhakhane embraced the four elements of politics of the time, namely, Directive Politics, Infiltrative Politics, Orientation Projects as well as Self help Projects as was discussed by the South African Student’s Organization (SASO), at the Edendale Lay Ecumenical Centre between 5th and 8th December 1971.
I take this opportunity to wish the Nzondelelo movement well, and the trustees of the Edendale Lay Ecumenical Centre strength. Let me mention them, I will start with the Judge, for obvious reasons: Judge HQ Msimang representing the Church of the province of SA; Dr. KEM Mgojo representing the Methodist Church of South Africa; Mrs T Dlamini for Inzondelelo, Rev. Khathi for the Evangelical Lutheran Church; Mr SJ Mwandla for the United Congregational Church; Rev. BC Khuzwayo for the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and Mr CB Hlophe from the private sector.
I wish to thank Rev. Sikhakhane’s family and colleagues for keeping the memory of their father alive, and wish them God speed in their endeavours to make the country aware of the role that he played, not so much for them to bask in the glory of their illustrious father, but to try as much as possible, to live by the example that he set. The pressures are not inherited only when they are the sins of the fathers. They may well be pressures emanating from the successes of our fathers.
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
5 December 2009
Source: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, (http://www.justice.gov.za/)
