Good evening and welcome to all of you, most especially our military veterans whom we honour tonight.
That we meet today, at this specific venue for this particular project is both hugely symbolic and sensibly practical. It is a confirmation of how far we have come and communicates what we are capable of as a country.
Tomorrow, of course, we celebrate 20 years of our democracy. Who would have thought even on this day 20 years ago, one day before the first ever democratic elections, tense and uncertain as it was, that we would be meeting here today, veterans from both sides of the liberation struggle at the Voortrekker Monument, of all places, to acknowledge the contribution not just of veterans from the liberation movements but also the SADF (South African Defence Force) and the former homelands?
That we would be digitising the history and contribution of military veterans not just from the liberation movements but the SADF and homelands? That even the Voortekker Monument would be declared a National Heritage Site under a democracy, as it was in 2011?
What we have here is very rare and precious. And we should treasure this. How many other countries that have been torn apart by civil war are capable of this?
We must, of course, acknowledge primarily the politicians and ordinary people on both sides of the struggle for South Africa for their willingness and determination to reconcile with each other and commit to a non-racial society in which we could all feel at home.
But whatever the views and feelings of politicians and ordinary people in a country, what the armed combatants on both sides of the divide do is utterly crucial. If they do not want to reconcile and do not share the views of the political leaders, they can completely sabotage any peace process and even intensify the civil war, as has happened in many countries.
So if the creation and development of our country’s democracy is the outcome of the considerable efforts of a range of people and groups, it is also because of the immense maturity, foresight and goodwill of the soldiers on both sides of the South African struggle.
This country owes you a huge, huge debt. Not just all of us in this country but people globally. You showed the world how the bitterest of enemies could come together and talk and find peace and then go on to help others with their efforts at peace. So you are a lesson to the world as a whole. To say all of this is not to romanticise.
Of course, there are major moral and political questions that arise about the sense in which similar recognition is being given to both those veterans from the liberation movements and those from the SADF and homelands.
Of course, there have been major challenges in the integration of soldiers from both sides. Of course, there have been major challenges around the material privileges that those who served the SADF have accumulated as against those from the liberation movements. These are issues that in different ways are being attended to by the Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans.
They are understandable and inevitable challenges. Major transitions and transformation are never easy or quick to achieve. However, over time we can address all these and other issues reasonably.
But most important: these challenges do not detract from the miracle you soldiers made possible and how much we all owe you! And we salute you!
Of course, the Military Veterans Act was passed to guarantee the welfare of all the military veterans from statutory to the non–statutory forces. The Minister of Defence will speak on that. I will speak on the Department of Communications’ (DoC) contribution to supporting the veterans. One of the initiatives of the Department is the “Digitising our Military Heritage” initiative.
Basically, by digitisation, we mean providing an electronic form any content that can be accessed by cell-phones, tablets and personal computers through internet and other means or can be seen on television screens.
Look, it’s a big word, digitisation but you could say that when you send your sweetheart an SMS that reads “I love you”, you are digitising your relationship. So let’s not pretend we’re all digital here. Hands up those of you who still write love letters?
The Military Digitisation Programme focuses on military veterans from both the non-statutory and statutory forces. The objective of the Programme is to further promote a reconciliatory ethos amongst all the military veterans on both sides of the struggle by recording, profiling and digitising the history and experiences of those who are lesser profiled.
The initiative has three goals to promote the stories of the veterans for all South Africans to learn from; build ICT (Information and Communication Technology) capacity and skills; and package the content for commercialisation. It also has four outputs interviews, registration of military veterans, a portal and an interactive website.
There is a sense in which by military veterans telling your stories, it can also help in your psychological healing.
Let me say a bit about progress so far:
The programme is anchored on a principle that “nothing for military veterans without them”. So a training programme was developed to capacitate military veterans on media skills, and 30 of them have been trained.
To support the programme, a Steering Committee has been established. It provides oversight of and expertise on the implementation of the Military Veterans Programme.
A database of bio-data and information that is relevant to the production of documentaries on the life and history of individuals, groups and organisations that were involved in armed struggle in South Africa has been developed. There are more than 1000 names of military veterans that have been uploaded onto the database through the G-3 Fieldwork Support Application.
About 200 video recorded interviews have been conducted. There is an interactive website created on military veterans where some of the content generated is uploaded for the public to view. The website allows military veterans anywhere in the world to register onto the system.
Another aspect being considered is an electronic list of all the countries that accommodated military veterans, the activities in those countries and families that remain there. This will also include organisations that supported the armed struggle and the nature of the support provided.
Besides the direct goals of the programme, we also see it as complementing the department’s work on Broadcasting Digital Migration and our Broadband Policy and Strategy, SA Connect.
The content generated will hopefully be absorbed into the Digital Terrestrial Television environment, as it will have multiple channels requiring a lot of content. And the portal and website would encourage the usage and uptake of ICTs as envisaged in SA Connect.
We are cooperating on this launch with the Department of Military Veterans (DMV). We believe they must have a measure of ownership of this programme. I discovered today that there is room for much more engagement with the DMV and Deputy Minister Thabang Makwetla, and, of course, the Minister, Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
We need to strengthen cooperation between our Departments and Ministries on this programme. But we also need to work much closer with the South African Military Veterans Association and the National Heritage Council.
The continued management of the programme, as well as its possible commercialisation, will need to be considered further by our two Ministries and our partners in this programme.
Ultimately, whatever we do, perhaps the greatest thing has already been done, thanks to your cooperation we have a single army in this country from the feuding combatants of the past! And it’s interesting that the first Commander-in-Chief of both Umkhonto we Sizwe and the SANDF, the first army of a democratic South Africa was our beloved Tata Madiba.
That too played no small part in bringing our military veterans together. And it’s yet another wonder of our country, that when he died those soldiers who fought against him and his ideas and movement also sincerely mourned him and also felt his loss to the country and the world.
On 16 December 1961, Umkhonto we Sizwe launched the ANC’s armed struggle. The focal point of the Voortrekker Monument, is the Cenotaph. It is the symbolic resting place of the Voortrekkers who died during the Great Trek and of Piet Retief.
On 16 December every year, the sun warms the cenotaph though an opening in the dome, to highlight the words: “Ons vir jou, Suid a-Africa” (We for thee, South Africa).
As we celebrate our 20 years of hard-won freedom, let us give new meaning to these words. As we stand on the eve of another election let us recommit ourselves to the betterment of the lives of all South Africans. Never mind its limited past meaning, let’s give these words a fuller, inclusive meaning, let these words be a motto of all of us so that we continue to build on the sacrifices made by so many so that we can have this democracy.
