His Excellency President of South Africa, Mr Jacob Zuma,
Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr Paul Mashatile,
Members of the Executive Council,
CEO of the Steve Biko Foundation, Mr Nkosinathi Biko,
Board Members of the Steve Biko Foundation,
Members of the Biko family,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.
Honourable President, 18 days to go would have been the birthday of the hero of our people, a man whose immense contribution to the fight against apartheid is well documented and will remain etched in the history books of this nation. The late Steve Bantu Biko, a leader par excellence, and the founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, hailed from this community of Ginsberg.
He was a rare breed of a leader, he was a fearless leader, a visionary, a humble and a selfless human being, a legend of the Eastern Cape like Nelson Mandela, OR Tambo and other leaders who fought against apartheid. He was one of many leaders of our nation who stood up to the challenges facing our people and defined the course of action at various epochs in the evolution of our society. Unfortunately apartheid robbed us of an opportunity to tap into the wisdom that this gallant son of the soil had. He would have been 66 years old on 18 December this year and enjoying life in the democratic South Africa that he contributed to build.
Inyaniso yona mayithethwe zininzi i-developments nezicwangciso ezikwizinga eliphezulu zokuphuhlisa eliphondo lika Steve Biko ezenzekayo kule-term kaRhulumente. Akuthethwa nje ngoku ngamagama amakhulu kuyenziwa, uluntu luyabona nkalo zonke, indlela, izikolo, izibhedlele ziyakhiwa kweliphondo.
Steve Biko would agree with us that the years of neglect under apartheid and being in the margins of the national economy are waning in his home province.
He would boldly affirm that the African National Congress (ANC) government is on track to make the Eastern Cape one of the strategic hubs of economic activity in our country. The announcement made by our President recently of a massive national infrastructure programme of more than R1 trillion to develop our ports, rail, road, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and energy infrastructure will without doubt assist in the development of our province.
We will benefit immensely from this investment which will completely change the face and fortunes of our province.
There is no better way to honour Steve Biko than to invest in projects that are aimed at improving the living conditions of our people. Here we are talking of a man who dedicated his life to the cause of fighting inequalities, poverty and underdevelopment. Here we are talking of a man whose ideological positions shook the apartheid government to its knees. He challenged the apartheid government’s use of the education system as a tool to oppress black people. He advanced the use of education as a tool to liberate the black majority.
This is what led the youth of 1976 to say enough is enough, a period that changed the course of the struggle in our country. As government we strongly believe that the launch of this Centre will serve as an invaluable resource for raising society’s awareness about the contribution of Steve Biko to the fight against apartheid. It will also serve as reminder of the values and aspirations that he espoused.
More than anything it will serve as a fountain of knowledge and information from which the people of this community and our province at large will drink and quench their thirst for knowledge.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, once said: “If a man empties his purse into his head no one can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”
The kind of facilities that are in this Centre will add educational value to our society, not only in terms of our history but also in terms of where we are going. This is something that Steve Biko would have championed and this is the best way to honour and remember him.
This state of the art Centre forms part of many projects that our province is working on, together with the National Department of Arts and Culture that fall under the Liberation Heritage Route projects.
It is our considered view that in striving for the development of our country and province we must rid ourselves of a sense of entitlement, fraud, corruption, laziness and anything that contributes in demobilising our society. We think Steve Biko would be livid as we are, at the rate at which these social ills are happening in our country. He would have answered the clarion call made by our President for us to work together to find lasting solutions to these social ills.
With those few words, I welcome you first in Ginsberg, secondly in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, which is in the Eastern Cape – “The Home of Legends”.
Mongameli nendwendwe ngokubanzi ningazi khulula iBhatyi nizixhome namnkelekile kwikhaya lika Steve Biko.
Enkosi!
