SPEECH BY MEC J.S. MABONA
His Excellency Ingwenyama Makhosoke 11
Chairperson of the national Council of State Inkosi Mzimela
Council members of the House of Traditional Leaders
Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture Science and Technology Bridgett Mabandla
Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen.
Let me take this opportunity to thank the Royal House and the people of Manala most humbly for having invited us to this occasion
It is really a great pleasure for me to be in these surroundings - so natural and so refreshing. Away from the rigours of officialdom.
Last year we met at this very site to launch the Komjekejeke Heritage site. In an age when humanity and our culture are threatened by countless hazards, it gives one hope to know that we still have time to celebrate our heritage.
As I look around I realise that not far from here, in this same plains, our forebears gave every inch of their being in defence of their dignity as a people.Many years ago our forefathers fought pitched battles over these very plains in defence of encroaching colonialism and land theft.
Despite being out-gunned they laid down their lives so you and me could be free. The laid down their lives in defence of their dignity, their land and their freedom.
It was here, on these very plains, that the enemy applied the scorched earth policy in a bid to drive our forefathers from their strongholds in the caves, valleys and meadows of this beautiful land.
As we enter the new millennium and the dawn of the African century, we do so under the full knowledge that we are a different people.
No more the chains of slavery; No more the pain and hardships of apartheid rule.
As a people we have begun to emerge as if in tandem with the new millennium, into a nation confident of itself, aware of its immense possibilities.
We are a people prepared to do extra-ordinary things to attain the goal that comes from creating a better quality of life for all. But above all we meet to right a century-old wrong – that of being forced to deny our past.
Just last week we heard how the apartheid rulers hid away excavations that proved that life on this country did not start with the arrival of Jan Van Riebeeck in 1652.
The authorities and some universities were too afraid that admit what we have always known. Our freedom has made it possible for us to reclaim our history. A history we are proud of.
Recent excavations, together with earlier work, are freeing our understanding of the past from the colonial account of our country and region. They point with increasing detail to our country's place in Africa's civilisation.
Ingwenyama Makhosokhe wesibili, you and your people you can help in 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.
The victory that we have scored against apartheid has laid the firm basis for all the people of South Africa to unite across colour, language, ethnic and religious barriers. It has launched us on the course of realising our true potential.
Let me point out that we meet not as victors to dance to the cries of war; we meet not to celebrate over any vanquished people.
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. I feel truly humbled to be part of the celebrations at Komjekejeke, - the place of the ferttile soil.
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.
Ladies and gentlemen, as we move into the African Century our priorities must bring an end to the poverty of our people. Our century must be one in which the divisions of the past must truly cease to exist.
As we reconstruct South Africa and reclaim the whole country for all, we break down all the divisions and attitudes of the past. We do so while freeing everyone form the last vestiges of oppression.
Freeing everyone from hunger, disease and want. It is our task to make the most of our freedom, to entrench it in our new epoch as a fundamental and a permanent feature of our very existence.
Ladies and gentlemen, the challenges facing all of us are to contribute to a complete and rounded picture of this celebration and others we will hold.
Certainly that complete and rounded perspective cannot be contained only in political speeches, song, dance, poetry and in the construction of monuments.
An integral element of the celebration is that we should feel the greater need, now more than before, to educate ourselves and the world about what amalgam of historical events has given birth to our collective human experience.
It is only by understanding this that we can be forewarned and forearmed about the challenges that lie ahead in our effort to construct a better world.
Only this experience can prepare us to be a nation of sages, statesman and stateswomen who can inspire others and help solve problems besetting our world.
The challenge to all of us is to ensure that we celebrate in all our languages. We must develop a way in which our languages can, through the process, further grow and flourish.
So that our experience can be recorded in many different ways, many different voices. Contributing to a national convention without anyone of us feeling we are not of the collective experience.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are heartened by the partnership between the business sector and the organizers of the celebrations. We are also pleased that this initiative will help, among other things, to raise resources in order to attend to the plight of, and to empower the children and the disabled as well as to preserve our heritage promote our environment and consciously water the tree of peace in our land.
These celebrations, this cultural festival must add value to our task of forging our nationhood.
It should help us to display to other nations of the world, as well as to ourselves, our capacity to give humanity what is proudly the product of the composite effort of all our people.
A few years ago all the data of human experience was in the horizon, now it within our grasp. Let us use it to build the high road to destiny.
South Africa must become a beehive of activity; a nation at work to build a better life. Those who came before us laid the foundation for the better life we are all working for. For that we will be forever grateful.
This, however, is not an occasion for us simply to congratulate ourselves. There are also challenges we must face. Our resolve to preserve our culture and keep our heritage sites for our children and their children remains unshakeable.
The people of this province must be involved in whatever we do here today. They should rightfully see this celebration, our culture, as their heritage to preserve for future generations.
Local and provincial government must also be involved. Tourism forms part of our strategy for sustained economic growth and development. Already more than a million tourists visit our province annually.
There are many beautiful and interesting places on our continent and elsewhere. We must therefore adopt a professional approach, upgrade skills of employees and market ourselves aggressively.
If approached within the framework of the Reconstruction and Development Programme, these efforts will make a significant contribution to bringing a better life for all.
Not only will tourism play its part in generating national economic growth. More directly, it will help improve the living standards of rural communities.
We need, as a nation, to take stock of what we have accomplished and what still needs to be done in preserving our heritage and rewriting our history.
Our success as a nation depends, in no small measures on the conservation of our heritage sites and the preservation of our culture similar to what we are doing today.
It demands conditions in which every sector of society can join hands to make a unique treasure accessible to our nation and its visitors, and to ensure that future generations will have the same privilege.
Let us all become part of a living monument in celebration of life.
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, in partnership with all sectors of society, we must continue to give absolute priority to HIV/AIDS programmes.
We must continue to mobilise popular awareness of the seriousness of the epidemic. All of us must realise that the epidemic is not only a health issue, but also an economic one. It is an epidemic which we ignore at our peril.
Let me also appeal to you to join “Operation Mpimpa”. In the past it was wrong to be an impimpi. But today we can be proud mpimpis of our democratic government. If we know of somebody in government who is stealing your money. Mpimpe. If you know of a car thief, a robber, a killer, a wife-beater, Mpimpe.
In conclusion, let me once again express my heartfelt gratitude to the organizers of these celebrations for the invitation extended to us to share this fresh breeze with you.
As we gather to honour King Silamba, I am aware that the Manala-Mbongo people are glad to have taken that first step towards reclaiming their history. More than 400 years of resilience brought us where we are today.
As we remember those who came before us let us also spare a thought for those who died and those who were displaced during the recent floods.
As South Africans, as Africans, we cannot stand by idly and watch the pain and anguish of our people in Mpumalanga, the Northern Province, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
We must and we shall do something.
Let us roll up our sleeves and get down to work.
Thank You.