the Funeral of the Minister of Communications, Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri
13 April 2009
Master of ceremonies
His Excellency former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Mrs Mbeki
Her Excellency Deputy President Baleka Mbete of South Africa
Her Excellency Former Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of South
Africa
Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Premier of the Free State, Beatrice Marshoff
Premiers and MECs
Members of the National Executive Committee of the African National
Congress
The leadership of South African Communist Party (SACP), Congress of South
African Trade Unions (COSATU) and South African National Civics Organisation
(SANCO)
Esteemed business and community leaders
Our religious leaders and friends
Ladies and gentlemen
It is with deep sadness and a shared sense of loss that we gather here to
pay tribute to the late Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, an esteemed patriot to whom
the struggle for justice and equality meant the attainment of human dignity and
a better life for all the people of South Africa.
We take this moment to express our heartfelt condolences to her family,
relatives, friends and comrades who have lost an outstanding family member, a
pillar of strength and a tireless servant of the people of South Africa.
More than just being a Minister, she was also a mother and a teacher to many
who crossed her path. The icy hand of death has snuffed out a life that has
served to illuminate our way as a Government, as the people, as a region and
indeed as citizens of the world.
In the wake of this deprivation we who remain behind have the challenge to
follow its enduring glow or risk veering off into perpetual darkness.
Will there be another Sis Ivy, to whom the cause of dignity for all humanity,
especially the poor, the oppressed and the disabled defined her life!
We do know that the answer to this rhetorical question is, No! But in
cherishing her memory and following her noble example, we shall ensure that she
lives on; her spiritual being propagated for generations to come in the
attainment of that which is good for South Africans and for humanity.
In this regard, we shall be heeding the advice of the poet, David Harkins,
that:
You can shed tears that theyâve gone or you can smile because they have
lived.
You can close your eyes and pray theyâll come back or you can open your eyes
and see all they have left you (You Can Shed Tears by David Harkins)
Indeed, if we all open our eyes the way Harkins suggests, we will see that she
left us the eternal gift of freedom, which she had lived for all her
life.
So all of us are moved by an appreciation of the sheer act of her living, and
we are pleased and thankful that she lived among us.
The multi-faceted nature of Apartheid oppression was unique and accordingly,
called for unique forms of struggle. The immense courage and suffering of our
people touched the lives of many, bonding those at home and abroad. The
response to apartheid challenged the humanity of non-South Africans just as it
touched its direct victims, spawning an unprecedented campaign internationally,
to destroy every vestige of apartheid a crime against humanity.
Dr Matsepe-Casaburri, a dedicated scholar and an intellectual in her own
right, was moved in her heart, as strongly as she was compelled by her mind to
join forces with fellow oppressed human beings. Thus it was that her first
steps toward the struggle were in scholarship. Her contribution in the first
instance was founded on the incontrovertible logic of empirical reality that
impinged on the lives of the oppressed people of South Africa, with a decided
focus on the gender perspective.
She was particularly seized with the burden of women under apartheid and the
necessity for womenâs equality to ensure genuine liberation. She was a shining
example of the dictum that it is never too late to learn. She embarked on
further postgraduate studies well past her 40th year and went on to achieve a
PhD in Sociology in 1984 at Rutgers University, the State University of New
Jersey. Like their counterparts all over the United States, the Rutgers
University student body was a prominent player in the anti-apartheid struggle,
through their disinvestment campaign that brought many universities that
invested in apartheid to a standstill.
Aunt Ivy was at the centre of this campaign. The students roped her in to
speak at meetings and workshops on the Rutgers campus at first and then further
a field. The African National Congress (ANC) observer at the United Nations
soon arranged for her to extend herself to speaking to audiences in other
communities. On completion of her studies she could have decided on a
convenient academic career in the United State (US). However, with her now
close links to the liberation movement she opted for a job as a lecturer with
the United Nations Institute for Namibia in Lusaka, where she could be closer
to the ANC Headquarters in Lusaka.
There she was drawn even closer to the work of the ANC, becoming a dedicated
resource, especially in research to the womenâs section of the ANC. At this
time she also participated actively in the Council for the Development of
Social Science Research in Africa based in Dakar, Senegal. Here again her focus
as a sociologist was on gender issues. In Lusaka her home was open to ANC
members of all hues and she made an unstinting contribution to the struggle
materially and in scholarship. Not least she played a strong role in further
strengthening the bond between the ANC and South West African People's
Organisation (SWAPO) of Namibia.
Ausi Ivy was an extraordinary woman from Kroonstad, unassuming, determined
and unrelenting on matters of principle with quiet dignity and a healthy
respect for education and its role in liberation. With the passing on of
Minister Matsepe-Casaburri we are indeed the poorer. The government has
suffered a severe loss of a veteran who reflected much of our proud history of
the struggle for a non-racial, non-sexist, just and democratic nation; a
personality of calm bearing who brought reason and rationality to any
discussion. Thus her departure leaves a void which only our attachment to her
memory can fill. Among the objectives she lived to see realised were the equal
rights for women as well as people with disability.
Looking at the fullness of her life, we cannot help but conclude that indeed
she loved life and did everything there ever was to be done in an individualâs
lifetime to ensure that life was fruitful not only for her but for humanity at
large. Therefore wherever she may now reside, she has no sorrow. And us whom
she leaves behind cannot but celebrate such a wholesome life as she has
lived.
Her long years of exile, the academic and other achievements she registered in
the times of deprivation, are a vivid reminder of her strength and courage in
difficult moments.
With her professional success, she defied not only the various odds stacked
against her, but also the very stereotypes that were held about women. Her
achievements and unimpeachable personal conduct served as a model for our young
women. Chief among the qualities our young girl-children would do well to
emulate from her is education, which stands out as the surest way of all out of
the poverty trap.
Dr Matsepe-Casaburri was the first woman to be appointed to the board of the
CSIR, the first black person and woman to become chairperson of Sentech, the
first woman and black chairperson of the board of the South African
Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). Ordinarily, we must see these stellar
achievements as representative of the abilities of our countryâs women.
We must do this bearing in mind that there was never a board or an executive
committee under the aegis of Dr Matsepe-Casaburriâs department which did not
have 50/50 gender parity. Conditions of gender oppression did not stand in her
way but spurred her on to find approaches that would put gender at the top of
the agenda. As the first woman Premier of the Free State Province, she set a
pace in negotiating uncharted waters of provincial leadership, playing a
significant role as a unifier in the politically challenging times.
Her appointment affirmed the belief of our government and her organisation,
the
African National Congress in the principles of gender equality, at the time
when much of the world was still sceptical about women in leadership. Her
tenure as the premier of the Free State set the basis for a smooth and seamless
transition for her successors such as Mme Winkie Direko. With the Free State
being the only province in South Africa to have been led by three women, we can
only be proud that this is the foundation laid through the leadership of
Minister Matsepe-Casaburri.
It was she in her poignant words who stated during her appointment as
Premier of the Free State Province that, âThis, for me is the beginning of a
long and arduous road into formal politics, but a road I am willing to travel
under the banner of an organisation that led our people to liberation from
apartheid. An organisation that has taken responsibility for reconciling South
Africa, building unity in diversity, an organisation that has overcome great
odds to see its vision and mission accomplished.â
Hers indeed proved to be an unwavering commitment not only to use her
political role to improve the lives of the people of South Africa, but to serve
her political organization, the ANC with unfailing dedication even during its
most trying times. Her appointment as Minister of Communications was a
confirmation of her outstanding leadership skills and her capacity to
appreciate the critical role of Information and Communication Technology in the
advancement of human condition. This includes promulgation of the Electronic
Communications Act (ECA) in 2005, which created a new policy and regulatory
environment in South Africa.
This Act was heralded globally as being visionary in the light of, amongst
others, the convergence of telecommunications, broadcasting, signal
distribution and the IT sectors.
She further oversaw the amalgamation of telecommunications and broadcasting
regulatory bodies resulting in the formation of the Independent Communications
Authority of South Africa (ICASA), a move that was emulated in many other parts
of the world. Under the leadership of Minister Matsepe-Casaburri post offices
were modernised to become citizen-centric, technology-driven service
outlets.
In brief, she was instrumental in placing information and communications
technology (ICTs) for development not only on the South African agenda, but
also in that of the region and the world. Amongst others, she led South
Africaâs inputs to the world summit on information society impelled by her
passion for building an inclusive information society. It is no accident that,
among her counterparts on the African continent, she was known as âMama ICT
Africaâ. She saw ICT as a means to achieve Africaâs developmental goals.
Her passion for Africaâs development and her commitment to and belief in the
African Renaissance was a passionate driver of her endeavours. She was known
throughout Africa as a leader in the applications of communications technology
to socio-economic development, educational empowerment and the advancement of
democracy. Among two of the flagship programmes that speak to her efforts are
the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Sub-marine fibre-optic
cable programme and the Nepad E-Schools Programme. All along she was straddling
both areas of responsibilities, Africa and South Africa, with comfortable ease.
On the home front, like all of us who share the concerns of this nation about
development, she was most gripped about the acute shortage of skills in the
country, particularly in the ICT sector. It was during her tenure that the ICT
Charter, which aims to improve the participation of the previously marginalised
in the communications sector, was adopted.
Her championing of these developments went a significant mile in proving her
mettle as a relentless fighter for equal opportunities for all people. Her
strong advocacy and leadership of the migration project of our broadcasting
system from analog to digital platforms remains her indelible legacy. Her
outlook was not only South African, but continental; to place this continent at
the cutting edge of technology and innovation in this globalised world.
Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri would have been the first person to acknowledge
that the journey traversed in improving our peopleâs quality of life is but at
its infancy.
She would have been the first to acknowledge that much more still needs to
be done, including the lowering of the cost of telecommunications in our
country. And, if she were able to defy the stillness of death, she would have
egged us on, to ensure that these objectives are met.
So, programme director, yes, we do know that there shall not be Aunt Ivy.
But we take solace in the knowledge that a big tree always has offshoots. I
believe she leaves behind capable women and men, who will ensure that what she
planted will bear fruit in our lifetime.
Fellow South Africans, it worsens our grief to note that Dr
Matsepe-Casaburri passed away on the eve of yet another significant stage in
our evolving history, our fourth democratic national and provincial elections,
just over a week from today. She was active in the efforts to get citizens to
exercise their right; and she would have once more used this opportunity to
re-affirm the values that she dedicated her life to: that is, a better life for
all!
One of the ways in which we can honour her memory is to go out in large
numbers to cast our vote on the day. And we should do that in a manner
consistent with the values cadres like Dr Matsepe-Casaburri espoused and
evinced: discipline, dignity and respect for each otherâs constitutional
rights. And so, dear friends, it is left to us to pay our lasting respects to
one who was an embodiment of humanity, integrity, dignity, kindness,
selflessness, style and beauty.
We salute her and dare to celebrate her life, fully cognisant of the fact
that the seeds she sowed wherever the vagaries of fate placed her, will blossom
into a million flowers long after this sad day has passed. Amelia Burrâs words
are appropriate in this hour: âbecause I have loved life, I shall have no
sorrow to dieâ.
Robala ka khotso âMama ICT Africaâ
Robala ka khotso, Motaung.
I thank you
Issued by: The Presidency
13 April 2009
Source: The Presidency (http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/)
