Premier Chupu Mathabatha: Farewell Dinner for the Retiring Dr PP Pheme

Address by the Premier of Limpopo, Ambassador Chupu Mathabatha on the occasion of the Farewell Dinner for the Retiring Dr. PP Pheme

Programme Director, Ntate Serobi Maja;
MECs present here;
Acting Director General, Ntate Nape Nchabeleng;
Senior Managers of our provincial government;
Ladies and gentlemen:

In a letter written in 1837 Karl Marx says to his father that ‘there are life-moments that, like border markers, stand before an expiring time, while at the same time clearly pointing out a new direction.

Today is indeed such a moment for our provincial government.

We are marking the end of an illustrious career; a beautiful journey of selfless service, while at the same time marking the beginning of a new era.

We are gathered here this evening to gracefully close a curtain on what has been a colourful  45  years  of committed service to the public. This is over four decades of service.

With the risk of sounding like I am reading an obituary, I feel it is important to speak a little bit about Dr Pheme’s career marathon, from very humble beginnings as career as an administrative clerk at the magistrate’s court in Bochum in the 1970s to a much decorated position of Deputy Director General.

The man in whose honour we have assembled here this evening has left footprints in several departments including Agriculture, Education, the Public Service Commission, Home Affairs as well as the Justice Department.

Before 1994 he worked for the then Lebowa Homeland in the Office of the Chief Minister as Secretary  and  later Head of Department. In climbing up the administrative ladder Dr Pheme worked as an administrative clerk, a human resources officer, a training officer, deputy secretary , Secretary for the chief Minister, Chief Director for Corporate Service, Head of Department and Deputy Director General .

Most importantly, Dr Pheme was part of the team that amalgamated Lebowa, Gazankulu, Venda and Transvaal Provincial Administration to create the current Limpopo Provincial Government.

Programme Director;

I take it that today is as much emotional for Dr. Pheme as it is for me and certainly for all my colleagues here.

Indeed there is sufficient reason to be emotional about bidding farewell to a man of Dr. Pheme’s credentials, stature and reputation.

It is for this reason that I am tempted to agree with those who say that there is nothing good about goodbyes.

Although we are poorer today with the departure of Dr. Pheme we are also richer because we have over the past few months made deliberate efforts to harvest  from Pheme’s experience and wisdom tank.

We have ensured that he does not leave with the quantum of knowledge, skills and expertise he crafted and gained over the last 45 years.

We believe also that those of us who remain in the public service will appreciate the unique privilege we enjoy as Dr. Pheme did.

Those who wish to remain in public service as long as Dr. Pheme did, should know that some of the qualities that sustained him for such a long period are honesty, loyalty and personal integrity.

I speak without any fear of contradiction that the name of Dr. Pheme could not be found on the same  page  with words such as corruption, nepotism, favouritism, laziness, so-forth and-so-on.

The Dr. Pheme we know remains a man of impeccable character and admirable work ethic.

We all can learn so much from what made Dr. Pheme the man we all so much admired.

Programme Director;

I have struggled to find a perfect combination of words to express my feeling and emotions; the perfect lines of paragraphs to express our collective appreciations to Dr. Pheme.

This is not only because of the length of time you have spent in Public Service but also because of the value you have added to the life of public service.

In my search for a perfect words and lines to  express myself on behalf of the people of this province I  came across a poem that I think would do justice.

This is a poem by Thabo Mbeki delivered at the National Assembly in 1999 to Nelson Mandela when he stepped down as president.

The slightly paraphrased poem goes as follows:

“You have walked along the road of the heroes and the heroines.

You have  borne the  pain of those who have  known fear and learnt to conquer it.

You have marched in front when comfort was in the midst of the ranks

You have laughed to contend against a river of tears. You have cried to broadcast a story of joy.

And now you leave this hallowed place to continue to march in front of a different detachment of the same army of the sun.

You leave us here not because you have to stop. You leave us here because you have to start again.

The accident of your birth should  have  condemned you to a village.

Circumstances you did not choose should have confined you to a district.

Your sight, your heart and your mind could have reached no further than the horizon of the natural eye.

But you have been where you should not have been.

You have been where nobody should be asked to be.

You have carried burdens heavier than those who felt it their responsibility and right to proclaim you an enemy of the state.

You have had to bear the mantle of sainthood when all you sought was pride in the knowledge that you were a good foot soldier for service delivery and good governance.

But despite it all and because of it all, we are blessed.

We are blessed because you have walked along the road of our heroes and heroines.

After a long walk, we too have arrived at the starting point of a new journey.’