Roossenekal, 19 December 2004
Honourable Master of Ceremonies
His Majesty Ingwenyama Mayitjha III
Your Majesties, the Kings of our people
Amakhosi, Magoshi, Mahosi;
Honourable Ministers;
Honourable Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you most humbly for inviting us to share this historic day with you, a
day aimed at commemorating and restoring the history and cultural heritage of
Ndebele , and to put a very rich past into true perspective.
It is fitting that we meet and stand on this soil - on the very terrain where
our forebeares fought pitched battles in defence of their land, women and
children, to trace and retrace our heritage in order enrich the humanity of our
new nation.
The history we are here to keep alive is about what as human beings we must never wish for one another and those who gallantly stood up against injustice.
The defeat of our valiant forebears condemned millions to a catastrophic loss of identity and human dignity and land dispossession. Our people were driven from their land and were eventually confined to 13 percent of the most arid land, while a minority enjoyed the privileged preserve of 87 percent of the country's most prestigious and prime land.
It was a defeat that led to the systematic destruction of families and the subjugation of communities. Indeed our past is one of genocide perpetrated by those who professed to be the epitome of civilisation itself. It is a past of enslavement of a people - including women and children - resulting in untold misery, humiliation and human degradation.
Programme Director, in spite of the legendary spirit and the bravery of King
Nyabela and his people, like many other gallant leaders of resistance wars , he
was also conquered .
Among these were those in our cities and towns who lost all hope and all
self-worth, who slid into a twilight world of drug and alcohol abuse.
What encourages all of us is the fact that rather than discourage our leaders and our people, the resistance continued, taking many forms under many different conditions. In the end, right triumphed over might of a whole people was systematically crushed as the notorious practices of “I ses mande” and trekpasses took full grip.
Programme Director, today we meet to pay homage to one of South Africa's greatest statesmen, seer and leader, King Nyabela. Today we meet again in these caves as proud descendants of those valiant fighters - UNYABELA, UMABHOKO, USILAMBA, UMAGODONGO - in a different setting, in a different era, to plan for a different war, a fight against poverty and under-development. We meet not as victors to dance to the cries of war; we meet not to celebrate over any vanquished people. Our trophies are neither skulls nor precious booty.
We meet to promote unity and not division; to forge a common nationhood and
not exclusive privilege. We do all these in the full knowledge that South Africa
belongs to all who live in it - black and white.
We also meet to assert the humanity of persons one to the other; to seek unity
and reconciliation; to set shoulders to the wheel in building a better life for
all.
We are mindful that the journey to where we are today has not been easy. But all of us persevered because we knew that what we had set out on was the right road.
As we commemorate the legacy of King Nyabela let us remember that in these very plains and valleys he and his warrious gave every inch of their being in defence of their dignity, their land and their freedom. It was on this plains and valleys that they said "no!" to colonialism. Despite been outgunned they laid down their lives in defence of their dignity, their land and their freedom.
Programme Director, in the spirit of our forefathers we must face the challenges that present themselves to us today. As we reconstruct and develop our society into one which guarantees human dignity, we are faced by challenges such as the provision of housing, water, sanitation, education, social welfare, security and the creation of job opportunities. These are enormous challenges which define the frontiers of our freedom as we advance towards our emancipation.
For this reason this is not a task that can be carried out by the government
alone. The challenge of the reconstruction and development of our society into
one, which guarantees human dignity, faces the entirety of our people.
It is a national task that calls for the mobilisation of the whole nation
into united people's action, into a partnership with government for progressive
change and a better life for all, for a common effort to build a winning nation.
Let us reiterate that :
The Government therefore commits itself to work in a close partnership with all our people, inspired by the quest to forge a people's contract to create work and fight poverty. We believe that only in this way can we draw on the energy and genius of the nation to give birth to something that will surely be new, good and beautiful.
The caring society we aspire for must guarantee the dignity of every citizen on the basis of a good quality of life for every woman, man and child, without regard to race, age and colour or disability.
It must be sustained by a growing economy capable of extending sustainable and equitable benefits to all our people.
In taking on these challenges we must be driven by the same spirit that made Bambata ka Makhwatha declare "enough is enough". The same sense of patriotic duty that drove Kings Mabhoko, Nyabela, Shaka, Moshoeshoe, Sekhukhune, Mkhado, Hintsa, Makana, Nghunghunyana, Mswati, - all our great heroes - to take up arms in defence of their dignity as humans. We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of those brave heroes.
In all this we must not allow past hatred and enmities to determine our future. While we remember the past we must not allow it to imprison us. To do otherwise would be a betrayal to our forebears.
Let us celebrate, advance , develop, protect and preserve our rich heritage, for our sake, let us do it for the sake and properity.
In conclusion, may all enjoy a merry Christmas and a prosperous 2005.
I thank you.