PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA DECLARES A SPECIAL OFFICIAL FUNERAL FOR THE LATE AMBASSADOR MODISE
PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA DECLARES A SPECIAL OFFICIAL FUNERAL FOR THE LATE AMBASSADOR MODISE
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NELSON MANDELA AND ALBERTINA SISULU COMMEMORATION AT UNESCO-22 JUNE 2018
NELSON MANDELA AND ALBERTINA SISULU COMMEMORATION AT UNESCO-22 JUNE 2018
On the occasion of the centenary of Albertina Sisulu and Nelson Mandela, two heros of the anti-apartheid struggle, the South African Embassy to France organised on Friday 22 June at UNESCO a conference and the screening of the film “A Long Walk to freedom”.
In his commemoration speech, the Ambassadeur of the Republic of South Africa to France H.E. Rapulane Molekane recalled the exceptional lives of these two heroes and especially the one of Albertina Sisulu may by less familiar to the general public.
“It is with great humility and a feeling of inadequacy that I have to speak about these two giants of our revolution; Mama Albertina Sisulu and Tata Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Had these two stalwarts of our struggle, been alive today in a few months, they would have turned 100 years old.
It is fitting that the Governing Party in our country, the African National Congress (ANC) has declared this year as the year of Mama Sisulu and Tata Mandela in their honour and recognition of the enormous role and sacrifices as well as influence, dedication and contribution to humanity. Their life’s spanned a finite period beginning in 1918 and lasting 95 years for Mandela and 94 years for Mama Sisulu as she passed on a few days to her 95th birthday, in the same year as Tata Mandela in 2013. The meaning, impact and influence of their well lived life’s will continue to be a torch bearer for many generations to come.
A talk about their life’s as much as it is about the past it is also about the present and the future, especially the type of society they dreamed of.
I need to emphasise from the onset that these two icons are dyed-in-the-wool ANC members and their life’s cannot be separated or usurped away from the ANC. I say this because it has become fashionable to try and relate and narrate their life stories away from the ANC by some in our country and globally who seek to divorce them and usurp them for their own narrow ambitions. Saying so does not mean they do not belong to all of humanity, yes we have donated them to the world, however it must always be remembered that they are products and were members of the ANC till their last breath.
Who are we talking about here, who were these giants? Let me begin with Mama Sisulu. This woman of fortitude, a fearless fighter and champion of women rights and democracy was born on 21 October 1918 in Tsomo district Transkei, Eastern Cape Province. She became an orphan at 15 years old and left to fend for her four siblings being the 2nd born. Her ambition was to be a teacher but ended up becoming a nurse because training as a nurse included getting an income so she could continue supporting her siblings. This Mama is grateful and thanks to the Missionaries of the Catholic Church. Mama was a midwife nurse employed by the Johannesburg City Health Department from 1954. Mama suffered the indignity of having to service her patients in the dusty townships travelling on foot carrying her tools of the trade in a big suitcase on her head more like in the rural areas where people carry buckets of water on the head. It was in 1941 that she got married to Walter Sisulu who was also active in the ANC. Mama Sisulu was the only woman present at the formation of the ANCYL in 1944 in Johannesburg, she became an active member of the ANCWL and the ANC. She was a smart organiser and sharpened her skills taking care and great interest in issues pertaining to children’s rights and education especially at the time when the racist regime under the architect of apartheid Hendrik Verwoerd implemented Bantu Education in 1953, thereby getting rid of “Equal Education” and entrenching separate development for different races in South Africa. The Nationalist Party and Verwoerd philosophy is captured aptly in this quotation “Blacks should never be shown greener pastures of education especially science and maths. These Bantus must know that their station in life is to be hewers of wood and drawers of water”.
Verwoerd was the devil incarnate, he entrenched everything that the erstwhile colonisers in our country did not have the courage to do. It was under Verwoerd that the western powers turned a blind eye to injustice, expansionism and occupation. The West looked on in indifference and tacitly supported apartheid being entrenched in our part of the world, in the name of containing communism and the Soviet Union.
Verwoerd was emboldened by this indifference and support and he expanded these policies of apartheid as he became prime Minister in 1958 until his death in 1966. He introduced and implemented new laws including the prohibition of mixed marriages, Immorality Act, Group Areas Act, Pass Laws, and Reservation of Separate Amenities etc… these are the laws that shaped and made Mama Sisulu intolerant of apartheid and made her determined to fight and destroy apartheid. Mama Sisulu in 1954 was among the founders of the Federation of South African women, which galvanised many women organisations under this umbrella body to resist and fight the unjust laws of apartheid. She was amongst the leaders of the 30 000 strong Women’s March to the Union Buildings against extension of a law to force Women to carry the hated pass books. She was present at the launch of the Freedom Charter in Kliptown. Her house was a hive of activity, even partly becoming a classroom for kids as part of alternative and resistance to Bantu Education.
Her husband was the Secretary General of the ANC and therefore the engine of the movement and more often away from home, so she had to raise the children, practice as a nurse and also pursue the struggle. She was in and out of jail, her house was raided more often and it became worse when the ANC was banned and even worst when the leadership of the ANC was imprisoned for treason in 1964 including her husband Walter Sisulu.
This woman saw all the aggression and brutality of Apartheid. She was in prison with her son; her daughter was also arrested under the so-called suppression of communism act and the terrorism act as well as the internal security act, which led her to decide that the kids should go to exile.
With the high command of MK, the ANC Military wing in prison and all liberation movements banned, mama Sisulu continued to organise women and youth and was a great source of strength and hope, a fountain of knowledge and encouragement. She, together with all the wives of the High Command of Umkhonto We sizwe and the ANC kept the name of the ANC alive and continued to inspire and show the way to the young generations, their efforts together with other factors sparked the 1976 youth uprising. She was at the time a banned person who was not supposed to attend gatherings, not to be near educational institutions and other state institutions, she was a “single parent” and “breadwinner” not just for her immediate family but for the nation. She risked everything including possibility of her professional certificate being revoked. Fortunately, this did not happen despite being in and out of detention, imprisonment and harassment, including being charged for treason.
Mama Sisulu’ s life is an embodiment of what is righteous and bravery at its best. She was quite unassuming yet very intelligent and strategists like her husband. Thousands of young people including her own found themselves in the ranks of the people’s army Umkhonto We sizwe and the ANC. Due to her tenacity in organising, many young people got involved in the underground struggle to support or even be active in combat with the apartheid enemy and its agents.
We can say without fear of contradiction that Mama Sisulu was a true revolutionary. As a member and leader of the ANC and its women’s section she was in the forefront of the reestablishment of the ANC Women’s League, of which she became the Deputy President.
In 1994, she was among the first MP’s of the ANC and was honoured to nominate Nelson Mandela as the 1st Democratic President of South Africa in a parliament that had been occupied by the racists for ages. This marked the first steps to transform parliament and end and repeal all apartheid laws.
Mama’s love for children and their rights was rewarded when she spearheaded the founding of the National Children’s Rights Committee in 1990 as a response to the apartheid humiliation, repression, detention without trial, torture and violence against children. She continued this work in parliament and worked for a child friendly dispensation.
We remember Mama Sisulu for being a dignified, disciplined, unifying and all-embracing humble leader. She did not segregate or isolate especially the oppressed black masses on the basis of ideology or political formation, hence her working with Dr Asvat of AZAPO. She taught us to unite and be disciplined to achieve our goals. That is why at the time of her departing even those who supported apartheid like George W. Bush, Margaret Thatcher and a host of other western backers of apartheid paid special tribute to her as a woman of fortitude and a real leader of the struggle against apartheid.
We honour her and thank her for the selfless and ethical leadership she has displayed throughout her life and we pledge to live her example and emulate her attributes.
Tata Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela needs no introduction or long essay about him. Many of us know something about him. I will not say much about him especially because we will watch a movie by Anant Singh that tells and tries to capture his life story “The Long Walk to Freedom”. I believe that the movie captures Mandela adequately. Let me just remind you of a few facts about this giant of our revolution. He is from a royal family of the Tembu people in Transkei, a lawyer by profession, founding member of the ANCYL in 1944, a volunteer in chief of the Defiance Campaign in 1952 and the first Commander-in-Chief of the ANC military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1961. Accused number one in the treason trial of the high command of Umkhonto we Sizwe where he said before his sentencing in 1964 “during my lifetime I have fought against white domination and have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve, but if needs be it is an ideal I am prepared to die”. Fortunately, Mandela did live to realise this ideal.
He became the first President and Commander-in-Chief of free democratic South Africa in 1994 after the demise of apartheid, having served 27 years in apartheid prison. Without bitterness he forgave his jailers and appointed some of them in his first cabinet including racist F.W. De Klerk. Nelson Mandela served as President for one term and retired until his departure in 2013. He was indeed a great leader who was honoured in his country and globally. We have indeed been lucky to have had such a great leader and founding father of our democracy. Mandela and his prison mates on Robben Island were sustained intellectually by the only publication apartheid authorities allowed; UNESCO’s own courier which is 70 years old now.
The great lessons we have learnt from Madiba may be summarised as that you must believe in an ideal and that the greatest act of humanity is to be selfless, servant leadership and ethical.
The greatest tribute for Madiba is for all of us to work for the achievement of his ideals a free, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa and a world at peace with itself. This ideal is not yet achieved and we pledge to realise it in our lifetime
Let us enjoy the movie as we search for the Madiba spirit within us”
“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” is a 2013 British-South African biopic directed by Justin Chadwick from a script written by William Nicholson. The film is based on the 1995 autobiographical book “Long Walk to Freedom” by anti-apartheid and former South African president Nelson Mandela. It is chronicling the life of the South African lawyer who campaigned restlessly against apartheid in the 1940s before becoming one of the greatest leaders of the modern age: From his journey from childhood in a rural village, to prominent figure in a political movement striving for equality, to 27 years of imprisonment, and finally to his inauguration as South Africa's president. Release date: 2013 , 2 hours, 18 minutes
STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA ON THE PASSING AWAY OF WINNIE MADIKIZELA-MANDELA
STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA ON THE PASSING AWAY OF WINNIE MADIKIZELA-MANDELA
Following the passing away of Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in her 82nd year, President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared national days of mourning from 3 April 2018 until 14 April 2018. The Special Official Funeral proceedings will be held at Orlando Stadium, Soweto, on Saturday, 14 April 2018. In terms of the President’s declaration, the official memorial service for Mam’ Winnie Madikizela-Mandela will be held at the Regina Mundi Catholic Church, Mkhize Street, Soweto, on Wednesday, 11 April 2018.
“’Mam’ Winnie deserves the highest respect our nation can demonstrate in honour of a patriot and citizen who served our nation and humanity at large with distinction during our liberation struggle and throughout our democratic dispensation,” President Ramaphosa said. “It is with a profound sense of loss and deep sadness that we have learnt of the passing away of Mam’ Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Even at the darkest moments of our struggle for liberation, Mam’ Winnie was an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free. In the midst of repression, she was a voice of defiance and resistance.
In the face of exploitation, she was a champion of justice and equality.
She remained throughout her life a tireless advocate for the dispossessed and the marginalised. She was a voice for the voiceless. In the coming days, as we mourn the passing of this heroine of our struggle, let us reflect on her rich, remarkable and meaningful life. Let us draw inspiration from the struggles that she fought and the dream of a better society to which she dedicated her life.Today we have lost a mother, a grandmother, a friend, a comrade, a leader and an icon.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared that the late Mam’ Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela-Mandela - a recipient of the Order of Luthuli in silver for her “excellent contribution to the fight for the liberation of the people of South Africa” - will be honoured with a Special Official Funeral Category 1.
SPEECH ON THE OCCASION OF THE CELEBRATION OF NATIONAL FREEDOM DAY
SPEECH ON THE OCCASION OF THE CELEBRATION OF NATIONAL FREEDOM DAY
26 APRIL 2018
PARIS
AMBASSADOR RS MOLEKANE
Programme Director,
Excellencies
Ambassadors and Permanent Delegates to UNESCO
Colleagues, Friends and Comrades
Welcome to the 24th year of our mighty country’s Freedom Day Celebrations. We celebrate this year’s Freedom Day under the theme “The year of Nelson Mandela: Towards the full realisation of our freedom through radical socio-economic transformation”.
This year has been designated to mark the enormous and courageous contributions and exemplary leadership of our liberation icons; mama Albertina Sisulu and Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela who, had they been alive, would be marking their 100th birthdays. These are two of the outstanding beacons of selfless and servant leadership with high ethical standards to be produced by our revolution, and today we celebrate them as we continuously seek to emulate and follow their example and multiply ourselves in their footsteps, and sustain their legacy.
We gather here today to also celebrate the enormous strides that have been made since 1994 and acknowledge that our country is a far better society than it was under the brutal and murderous apartheid regime. This time also calls on us to reflect on what else needs to be done collectively towards the goal of building a non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous united country and improving the quality of the lives of all our people.
This year also marks the 30th anniversary since the brutal murder and assassination of Dulcie September, here in France; a leader and activist whose life and times may be compared to that of both Mandela and Mama Sisulu. We would like to use this opportunity to once again call on the French government to re-open the Dulcie investigation to expose and find her murderers here in France and their collaborators in apartheid South Africa. It is an open secret that France collaborated with apartheid South Africa to undermine and break the international sanctions and arms embargo on the racist apartheid regime and Comrade Dulcie was murdered because of her work to expose this.
In the past 24 years, our country has made great strides in transforming the apartheid state which was meant to serve a few, replacing it with a state that is caring and responsive, which is created to serve all our people; both black and white. We have a constitutional democracy with one of the best constitutions in the world; which provides for the rule of law and protection and promotion of human rights. We have all important institutions in place that are fully independent and play their role without fear or favour, which makes our democracy to flourish.
The biggest challenge that our country faces today is in the area of socio-economic development and the roll out of these rights to the poor black majority of our people. The three evils of poverty, unemployment and inequality has propelled our government to adopt the theme of “radical socio-economic transformation” and this is what is contained in our National Development Plan, which is aligned to the 2063 Agenda of the African Union and Agenda 2030 on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Since the election of our new President, H.E Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year, after the smooth transition that we witnessed, a positive mood and euphoria has once again gripped our country. We have seen a renewed attention and positive mood from the global community towards our country. This is in recognition of the manner that the new leadership is showing commitment to fighting against the demon and cancer of bad governance, corruption and undermining the rule of law.
It is also in recognition that this leadership is committed to the ethical, selfless and servant traits espoused by both Mandela and mama Sisulu. It is also in recognising that the programme of radical socio-economic transformation is irreversible and an important imperative for the success of democracy in our country. Radical Economic Transformation will be implemented in a responsible and inclusive manner. This includes land expropriation without compensation and other programmes to rapidly restore the dignity and humanity of the poor and marginalised in our society.
The spirit of renewal, unity and hope that has gripped our country and the world’s attention has to translate into a massive investment by both local and international investor communities into our economy. To this extent, President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed four investment envoys and will also host an investment conference later this year. South Africa is indeed open for business. Opportunities are abound in our country in all areas of the economy such as; agriculture, mining, textile, manufacturing, automobile, ICT, infrastructure and transport etc. The country has established a one-stop investor assistant office within the Department of Trade and Industry to deal with all issues pertinent to investment like permits, incentives and regulations under one roof.
We are mindful as a country that our development and growth is linked with our region SADC, our continent; Africa and the world. We cannot be an island of success and prosperity in a sea of poverty, instability and strife. It is in this context that as the current chair of SADC we continuously engage our neighbours and region to find collective solutions to our challenges. We are seized with the worrying developments in some of our neighbours and are constantly engaging within the institutions of SADC to find lasting solutions. We believe that dialogue and engagement are the best mechanisms to resolving our inclusive differences and that war and conflict lead only to misery and destruction.
We are working very hard to speed up the process of Regional economic Integration and implementing the common market of SADC which is the building bloc towards our eventual aim of continental integration and African unity as detailed in Agenda 2063; The Africa We Want. Step by step this objective and dream of our fore-fathers and mothers is being realised. The African common market, the African common currency, the African common passport etc. are slowly but surely being unpacked and on the way to being realised and achieved.
We continue to discharge our responsibilities as a responsible member of the International Community as evidenced by our active role in UNESCO and other multilateral bodies. We believe in and embrace multilateralism and argue that the United Nations remains the premium body that espouses the interest of all countries. We however believe that some of its organs need an urgent review and reform especially the Security Council which has not changed since the middle of the 20th century. It is with this belief that the UNSC must be reformed that we have thrown our country’s name as a candidate for the non-permanent membership of this body. We believe that if elected we will push for the reform agenda and represent the agenda of the South.
We have observed with alarm and disquiet, some of the P5 members who publicly profess to be multilateralists but undermine this by acting unilaterally and convening parallel initiatives in contempt of established UN bodies and agencies. This is a regrettable step and should be discouraged and condemned.
South Africa and France enjoy cordial and warm relations. These are interspersed by reciprocal, high-level visits and sharing of information in all areas of human endeavour. Our trade and economic relations are also on a sound footing. We cooperate and manage our bilateral relations through the Forum for Political Dialogue which held its latest meeting here in Paris last month. This forum unpacks and discusses all areas of our bilateral relations. The latest decision is to elevate this Forum to be chaired by our Ministers of International Relations and to bring under its roof all other dialogues that have been running on their own; like the Joint Economic Commission, Defence and Security Dialogue etc... It is envisaged that the restructured and elevated Forum for Political dialogue will be inaugurated by our Ministers shortly.
While we are satisfied with the trade and economic relations we believe that much more can be done. There is room for improvement especially to close the trade imbalance which is in favour of France. We believe that France can do more to assist South African small and medium sized enterprises to enter the French market. Currently there are over 350 French companies in South Africa and no more than 25 South African companies in France, this is unacceptable. France exports 20 billion worth of goods and services to us and we only export 10 billion worth of goods and services to France. As we prepare ourselves for the 4th industrial revolution, it is important that this gap is closed and innovative and fair, balanced trade is encouraged.
Our priorities as we Chair BRICS and will be hosting its Summit later this year and marketing its 10th year of existence are firstly to strengthen and expand the BRICS development bank and among others to leverage the BRICS economic partnership towards the pursuit of inclusive growth and advancing the 4th industrial revolution. The BRICS Summit will be held under the theme BRICS in Africa; collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th industrial revolution. As has become tradition now, there will be sessions between BRICS and other emerging or Global South formations’ leaders in addition to the Africa outreach session.
We are also at the helm of the Indian Ocean Rim Association, which we have pledged to utilise to expand our relationship to achieve our objectives of the ocean or blue economy. There is great potential that we have not yet explored in the blue economy which through our leadership of IORA we hope to exploit for the benefit of all the members while protecting the use and safety of the ocean, and its benefits.
As we mark the centenary of Nelson Mandela and Albertina Sisulu, we hope that the world will join us and assist our country and continent to enter the 4th industrial revolution and be responsive and responsible global players. We must avoid the threats of WAR either by protectionism, nationalistic and outright racist tendencies that are rearing their ugly narrow heads especially here in Europe. We have one planet, one globe and our future is intertwined. Let us find the Madiba spirit in us and make the world a better place for all.
PRESIDENT MATAMELA CYRIL RAMAPHOSA OF SOUTH AFRICA
President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa
President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa was born on 17 November 1952 in Johannesburg. His family was moved from Western Native Township to Soweto in 1962, where he attended Tshilidzi Primary School. He completed his high school at Mphaphuli High School in Sibasa, Venda in 1971 He began his studies at the University of the North in 1972, where he became involved in student politics, joining the South African Student Organisation (SASO) and the Black People’s Convention (BPC).
Deputy President of the Republic
Mr Ramaphosa was appointed by President Jacob Zuma as Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa on 25 May 2014.
In terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa the Deputy President is appointed to assist the President in the execution of the functions of Government.
During this term of office, in addition to any other functions that the President may assign, the Deputy President has the following responsibilities:
1. Chairperson of the Human Resource Development Council of South Africa;
2. Chairperson of the South African National Aids Council;
3. Champion of social cohesion initiatives;
4. Coordination of anti-poverty and short-term job creation programmes;
5. Promotion of dialogue on wage inequalities and labour stability among social partners;
6. Leader of Government Business in Parliament;
7. Champion of the institutionalisation of best-practice models in the Public Service;
8. Overseeing the transformation of state-owned enterprises;
9. Overseeing the turnaround of South African Airways, electricity utility Eskom and the South African Post Office;
10. International engagement in support of South Africa’s foreign policy and international cooperation objectives.
Political involvement
The President was detained in 1974 for organising pro-Frelimo rallies that were held to celebrate the independence of Mozambique. He was detained for the second time in 1976 following the Soweto student uprising.
He became the first general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1982. In 1991, he was elected African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General and subsequently became head of the ANC team that negotiated the transition to democracy.
Following the country’s first democratic elections in 1994, he was elected chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly, which wrote South Africa's new democratic constitution.
He moved into the private sector in 1996, and in 2001 founded Shanduka Group, a diversified investment holding company. He resigned from Shanduka in 2012 following his appointment as Deputy President of South Africa.
Mr Ramaphosa holds a law degree from the University of South Africa. He has received several honorary doctorates from local and international universities. He received the Olof Palme prize in Stockholm in 1987. He was awarded the National Order of the Baobab in Silver in 2009 for his contribution to the multiparty negotiations and for chairing the Constitutional Assembly. He was also the Deputy Chairperson of South Africa’s National Planning Commission.
In December 2012, he was elected Deputy President of the ruling African National
Congress.
President of the Republic
On 18 December 2017 he was elected to the position of President of the ANC. Mr Ramaphosa then became Acting-President following the resignation of former President Jacob Zuma and officially became President after a parliamentary vote on 15 February 2018 and sworn-in ceremony by the Chief Justice.