PREMIER'S ADDRESS
Honourable Master of CeremoniesHis Majesty Ingwenyama Mayitjha III
Your Majesties, the Kings of our people
Amakhosi,
Magoshi,
Mahosi;
Honourable Ministers;
Honourable Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me from the outset; thank all of you as lovers of democracy for the sterling work you did in voting this government into power on June 2nd.
Your actions and those of millions of patriots in the ANC, the SACP, COSATU and other democratic formations ensured that never again shall this country of us be allowed to bleed. For this South Africa - and indeed the world - will forever be grateful.
Master of Ceremonies, we stand at the dawn of a new beginning - a new birth.
In a few days the door will open to a new century - the African century. And as it opens it will be slamming close an era of immense human tragedy and untold suffering.
The past century was characterised by wars of conquest, land grabbing and famine.
It was an epoch of genocide of a whole people even amongst those who profess to be the epitome of civilisation itself.
More importantly it was an era of an enslavement of a people resulting in untold misery, humiliation and human degradation.
For centuries our country bled from a thousand wounds.
Our people were driven from their land. The majority of the people were 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.
Our strength in numbers failed for many years to unshackle our people from these chains because those who oppressed us realised that as long as we were not united we would not overcome our woes.
But long before that darkness of the interregnum of defeat and humiliation, great visionaries such as King Nyabela, Moshweshwe, Cetshwayo, Nghunghunyane, Hintsa, Montsiwa, Sekhukhuni, Ramabulana, Mzilikazi, and Mswati had come to the realisation that the disunity of the African people was at the centre of their problems.
Today as we gather to pay homage to one of South Africa's greatest visionaries - indeed one of Africa's greatest statesman, seer and leader - we do so in the full knowledge that never again shall we allow the country to fall into the hands of the enemy.
Never again shall we allow ourselves to slide into defeat; into subjugation. As a people we shall not allow ourselves to be dispossessed, our country and our continent to be plundered.
Nothing short of such a commitment will appease his majesty the Late King Nyabela. Nothing can assure our great heroes like Shaka, Sekhukhune, Ngungunyane, Mzilikazi and others that we are indeed a country in the process of reclaiming our history.
As we commemorate King Nyabela let us remember that in these very plains and valleys he and his men gave every inch of their being in defence of their dignity, their land and their freedom.
Master of ceremonies, we meet, as descendants of these valiant fighters, in a different setting, in a different era, to plan for peace and not war; to promote unity and not division; to forge a common nationhood and not exclusive privilege.
That we gather at the dawn of the new millennium, is a reminder of the fact that, valiant though their resistance was, the African people were conquered; a dark interregnum of defeat and humiliation set in; and yet the resistance continued, taking many forms under many different conditions. In the end, right triumphed over might.
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 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.
Master of Ceremonies, as we enter the new millennium let us pay homage to those brave sons and daughters who made 1994 possible. On June 2 1999 when we took the baton from those who came before us we knew then - as we know now - that we were continuing in the proud tradition of the African National Congress.
We were continuing in the tradition of OR Tambo, Pixley ka Seme, Sefako Makgatho and that of the Royal House of Ndzundza.
As we leave these hallow precincts let each one of us undertake to work hard to can promote and assist continuing research so that we know who we truly are.
The nation, with your help, also needs to come to a proper understanding of those whose history has been most grievously affected by the ravages and distortions of apartheid and colonialism.
Having together resolved that South Africa belong to all who live in it, we know that the unity of our nation is our strength as we strive to build a prosperous nation.
Our tryst with these forbears is to build South Africa into a united, non- racial, no-sexist and democratic country; a nation of Africans across colour lines; an African democracy in the modern world.
As we emerge from our horrid past, almost in tandem with the new millennium, our practical actions must ensure that none can challenge us when we say - we are a nation at work to build a better life!
This society 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, colour or disability.
It must be sustained by a growing economy capable of extending sustainable and equitable benefits to all our people.
We seek to replace a society which, in many instances, has been and continues to be brutal and brutish in the extreme.
Over the centuries this has condemned millions to a catastrophic loss of national identity and human dignity, land dispossession, classification and denigration as sub-humans and the systematic destruction of families and communities.
The society we seek to replace was, to a very significant degree, built on the law of the jungle of the survival of the fittest.
Accordingly, the weakest that were denied access to power became the landless, the unemployed, the uneducated, the surplus people deported to the so-called homelands, the victims of abject poverty.
Among these are those in our cities and towns who have lost all hope and all self-worth, who have slid into a twilight world of drug and alcohol abuse, the continuous sexual and physical abuse of women and children.
Ladies and gentlemen, these are some of the challenges facing all of us.
These are enormous challenges we face to succeed in creating the caring society we have spoken of.
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.
The Government therefore commits itself to work in a close partnership with all our people, inspired by the call - Faranani! -to ensure that we draw on the energy and genius of the nation to give birth to something that will surely be new, good and beautiful.
We invite all those in our country who occupy positions of authority and responsibility to join in this new way of doing things, by engaging the people whom they serve and lead in the common effort to transform all of us into a people at work for a better South Africa.
One of the central features of the brutish society we seek to bring to an end is the impermissible level of crime and violence. Acting together with the people, we will heighten our efforts radically to improve the safety and security of all our citizens.
The caring society of which we have spoken must, of course, successfully address the challenge of meeting the material needs of our people.
As a people we must display through our actions that we are a proud nation that is prepared to do unbelievable things in working for a better life.
In conclusion let me issue a challenge to all our young intellectuals. Go to those who have over the years preserve our history and tradition and capture it for future generations. Let us do this so we too can celebrate in the knowledge that our people are indeed a people we can be proud of.
A few days ago we saw the passing of the Domestic Violence Act which makes it a criminal offence for anyone to assault a member of the family. We believe that this would help in restoring the dignity of family life that seem to have been lost as a result of the humiliating effects of apartheid.
I would not have fulfilled my duty as a Premier and as a father if fail to call upon all of us to help in the fight against HIV? AIDS.
Master of Ceremonies, I am telling, you these things not as a ploy to recruit you into the ANC, as others would like us believe.
Today is not a time to recruit members for the ANC. Partly because as I mentioned the Royal House has always been proud followers of the rich tradition of the African National Congress. The other reason is that I know that most, it not all of you here, are proud members of the ANC.
So it will be superfluous for me to invite people into their own home. But for those doubtful Thomas's, please remember that there is plenty of room in the ANC.
Finally, as we drive home let us please observe road regulations. Let us ensure that we travel within the required speed limit; that we overtake when necessary and where it is safe to do so and that we travel in roadworthy vehicles.
Let none of us from this celebration be counted as a statistic. I hope to se you all back here next year.
Enjoy your holidays and may everything you wish for please come true in the New Year.
I thank you.