Madam Speaker, Honourable Thandi Shongwe Honourable Deputy Speaker, Honourable Violet Siwela Honourable Premier of our Province, David Mabuza Honourable Members of the Executive Council Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature Honourable Members of Parliament
Kgoshi Mokoena, Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders ANC Provincial Secretary, Mr Mandla Ndlovu
MMCs for Culture, Sport and Recreation from District and Local Municipalities
Head of the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation, Mr Sipho Mnisi and other Heads of Departments
Leadership of Cultural Forums Leadership of Sport Federations Language experts
Leadership of Multi Religious Formations Traditional Leaders
Traditional Healers
Representatives of the Creative Workers Union of South Africa Comrades and friends
Members of the media Invited guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
When the names of those who immensely contributed towards the attainment of freedom and democracy in South Africa are pronounced, the name of Oliver Reginald Tambo stands out as he was a visionary and progressive cadre who was dedicated to the cause of liberating our country.
The ANC led Government has declared the year 2017 as the year of OR Tambo in honour of this gallant fighter and leadership par excellence so that we could reflect on the immense contributions that Tambo had made towards us achieving freedom and democracy in our mother land. Tambo would be celebrating 100 years and we are fortunate that we are in a position to draw from his inspirational leadership as we are hard at work to address the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
We are committed to progressive and radical economic transformation of our country so that we could be free from social malice afflicting some of our people as we are faced with a complex reality that our budget could not redress the legacy of apartheid and we therefore ought to prudently distribute our resources so that we can create better lives that we have made solemn promises to our people.
The characteristic of our country’s apartheid reality is that our people were subjected to inhumane living conditions that subjected them to a life that relegated them to the periphery of society. We therefore have to constantly draw from the wisdom of those among our patriots like Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Chris Hani, Adelaide Tambo, Albertina Sisulu among others so that we could indeed create a South Africa that will respond positively to the needs and aspirations of its people.
I am fully conscious of the reality that our liberation struggle produced heroes and heroines among our people who were committed to bring to an end the debilitating legacy of apartheid in our country but the immense contributions of Tambo epitomize most of our struggles for freedom and democracy. Read more [PDF]
