Master of Ceremony, thank you for affording me this opportunity.
Your Majesty, King Zwelonke Sigcawu,
His Exellency, President Jacob Zuma,
Distinguished Guests,
Comrades,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Let me first and foremost applaud the organizers of this ceremony, which undoubtedly is worthy of association with the State President, honourable Jacob Zuma.
It is true that there is no finer inspiration than the real-life stories of the great, no quicker way to learn the secret of how greatness is attained than taking time and reflect on lives of famous personalities and most particularly about a man who has left an indelible impression for all time.
Without making a speech, we wish to express our undivided support to this befitting action of conferring the “King Hintsa Bravery Award” to our State President.
We acknowledge that this is inspired by how King of the Xhosa Nation, King Hintsa persistently fought against British hegemony on Xhosa people and advocated for their emancipation.
From the Free State Province, we consciously decided to grace this ceremony because we respect and highly value the liberation struggle credentials of our President. His ability to preserve amongst others a culture of collective decision making in the ANC as a ruling party and thus promoting unity cannot be easily overlooked.
Under the current administration led by President Zuma, our country has achieved significantly amongst many on: Crime combatting, HIV and AIDS prevention and Treatment, Jobs Creation (Amid persisting global economic meltdown), Governance restructuring, especially with creation of National Planning Ministry (National Development Plan is currently in place), Aggressive Infrastructure Construction and Maintenance Roll-out Programme is being implemented and Rural Development is given dedicated attention as part of government’s overall work.
In addition, it is increasingly becoming clear that persisting challenges amongst others such as shortage of housing, unequal education systems, unequal healthcare system will also be successfully tackled.
It is appropriate therefore to have this ceremony, which confers King Hintsa Bravery Award to President Zuma.
Thank you.
