Tribute by The Premier of the NOrthern Cape. Ms Silvia Lucas, on the occation of the memorial service held in honour of former President Nelson, on the 11 December 2013 at the Mittah Seperepere Convention Centre in Kimberley<\/p>\n
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I stand before you this morning mindful of a family in grief, a country in mourning and a world in shock.\u00a0 I also stand before you with a deep sense of sadness while at the same time deeply honoured to pay tribute to one of the finest human beings that ever walked this planet.<\/p>\n We are all united,<\/strong> not only in our innermost desire to pay our respects to Tata Madiba, but also in the knowledge that we lost someone close to us on 5 December, barely a few days ago.<\/p>\n Tata Madiba was revered the world over as a symbol of selfless humanity, a man who was classless and who transcended nationality.\u00a0 He was a person who needed no title to continue to generate his special and particular brand of magic which universally became to be known as \u201cMadiba Magic.\u201d<\/p>\n The Good Lord granted Madiba a full life and every South African is obliged to say \u201cthank you\u201d in the manner he brightened our lives; in the manner he almost single-handedly averted the real possibility of bloodshed; in the manner he conducted himself both morally and ethically and in the genuine manner he displayed compassion to the truly downtrodden and marginalised sections of our society.<\/p>\n Ladies and Gentlemen<\/strong>, only now that Madiba has departed, do we truly appreciate what we are without and that we want him to know that life without him is very, very difficult.\u00a0 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela:\u00a0 The Father of our Nation and Icon of our Struggle is no more!<\/p>\n Over the last few days we have all despaired at our collective loss, but through the timeless strength and great meaning of his messages through Madiba\u2019s years of giving has afforded us the sustenance to move forward.<\/p>\n Madiba\u2019s God-given sensitivity<\/strong>, intuition and charisma was always evident:\u00a0 Who would forget his presence when we won the bid to host the FIFA World Cup?;\u00a0 or his calming influence when Comrade Chris Hani was assassinated?; or his having tea with Betsy Verwoerd?; or his casting his vote in war-ravaged Kwa-Zulu Natal during the first democratic elections in 1994?;\u00a0 or openly declaring that he would only serve one term as President a few years before his term was up?<\/p>\n Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela:\u00a0 The Father of our Nation and Icon of our Struggle is no more!<\/p>\n Tata Madiba<\/strong>, both literally and figuratively, stands tall enough as a human being of exceptional and unique qualities and if there is a temptation to canonize his memory and legacy, the world would certainly lose out on the very essence and core of his being and his humanity.<\/p>\n In spite of his being jailed for almost three decades by an illegitimate junta, Madiba\u2019s joy for life was transmitted where ever he took his smile;\u00a0 the sparkle in his eyes were unforgettable; and his sense of humour was innocent yet infectious.<\/p>\n Nelson Mandela<\/strong>, the Father of our Nation an Icon of our Struggle, will never die for as long as the untold suffering of our people continue and for as long as the African National Congress lives to create a better life for all the people of our province and country.<\/p>\n Madiba\u2019s vision to bring about a just and equal society is the vision of the ANC:\u00a0 the two are inseparable, Ladies and Gentlemen<\/strong>, even during this testing and difficult period the ANC celebrates the life of Tata Madiba.<\/p>\n Madiba\u2019s messages<\/strong>, his actions and his convictions certainly give us the hope and the courage to push forward vigorously for further development and towards ending hunger, poverty and homelessness.\u00a0 We say now as we said of him while he was still amongst us:<\/p>\n \u201cWe have you, Madiba, as our nearest and brightest star to guide us on our way.\u00a0 We will not get lost.\u201d<\/p>\n Ladies and Gentlemen<\/strong>, together we have made significant progress to build the South Africa that Nelson Mandela and his generation envisioned.\u00a0 Together we are confronted with the challenges in delivering to our people the freedom that Tata Madiba lived and died for.\u00a0 And in continuing Madiba\u2019s legacy, we will together strive to make South Africa the best country on the entire planet. For all his greatness<\/strong>;\u00a0 for all the global adulation he received;\u00a0 and for all the myriad honours, awards and accolades, Nelson Mandela possessed an almost regal touch of humility and modesty.\u00a0 His roots, his political disposition, his own ethical code and morality, was, first and foremost, shaped by the African National Congress.\u00a0 In spite of his larger than life persona, he never, ever claimed to be bigger than the African National Congress.<\/p>\n Testimony to the influence that the African National Congress had on Madiba\u2019s general outlook on life can be borne out by the following words said by his friend and lawyer, George Bizos: \u201cNelson does not fear death.\u00a0 He once said that, when he departs, he will look for the nearest ANC branch in heaven and join it.\u00a0 And he has often said \u2013 in jest \u2013 that when he dies, he will be in the good company of Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Chief Albert Luthuli and Oliver Tambo.\u201d<\/p>\n Ladies and Gentlemen<\/strong>, reflecting on yesterday\u2019s Memorial Service which was hosted by Government, Mandela\u2019s unifying force was patently evident.\u00a0 Without getting into too much of detail, one saw leaders of different countries, some who are at war with each other, and others with cold diplomatic ties, all sitting at the same venue, to commemorate the life and memory of one man.\u00a0 It goes without saying that had Madiba\u2019s life conduct heeded and emulated as a person, as a leader and as a statesman, world peace would be almost instantaneous!<\/p>\n Ladies and Gentlemen, consequent to the outpouring of our collective grief, and in celebrating and reflecting on Madiba\u2019s life, we are obliged to ask:\u00a0 \u201cHow are we to advance Madiba\u2019s dream?\u201d<\/p>\n The fact that as a nation we had the inner resolve to forgive and forget, and let bygones be bygones, I have no doubt whatsoever that each and every one of us have the capacity to make Madiba\u2019s dream a reality:<\/p>\n It is therefore what I term a \u201cnational but collective obligation\u201d for each one of us to remain steadfast to the Mandela dream, and as we advance, the most lasting monument we can build to his memory is to strive for peace and unity, to conquer racism and sexism in all their manifestations, to eradicate social inequalities, to educate all our people and to unflinchingly uphold a human rights culture.\u00a0 Anything less, Ladies and Gentlemen<\/strong>, will simply not do!<\/p>\n Be that as it may<\/strong>, the world in general and South Africans in particular have a reason to be both happy and proud as it is not in every generation that a person of mythic proportions emerges from relatively obscure circumstances to stamp an indelible imprint on the history of the world.\u00a0 We were certainly lucky to have one Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela in our midst.<\/p>\n Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to express our profound gratitude to the Mandela Family for having shared this great son of yours with South Africa, Africa and the rest of the world.<\/p>\n We also thank you for bearing the harsh and uncompromising difficulties of the Struggle with such resolve and fortitude:\u00a0 by letting go of a loving husband, a doting father, and a grandfather which, when all is said and done, had certain consequences for all of you.\u00a0 Thank you, once again.<\/p>\n Ladies and Gentlemen<\/strong>, I think it will be prudent of me to conclude with the following sentiments expressed by the Minister of Home Affairs, Ms Naledi Pandor, which appeared in yesterday\u2019s edition of the Sowetan.\u00a0 I am sure it will find resonance with all of you:\u00a0 \u201cA giant has died, a man of steely resolve but with a heart imbued with a love for all humanity. <\/p>\n How should we remember him? Should we focus on the young boy from a rural village who went to study at the University of Fort Hare where he learned to fight for justice?<\/p>\n Should we focus on the young man who practised law and assisted hundreds in their regular confrontations with unjust apartheid laws?<\/p>\n Should we focus on the young lion who brought a new radical edge to the ANC through the creation of the ANC Youth League? <\/p>\n Should we focus on the Umkhonto weSizwe founder, a man ready to lead the ANC in a new direction in the struggle for freedom and ready to die for his beliefs in a democratic and free South Africa? <\/p>\n Should we focus on the man sent to prison for 27 years while his comrades and friends kept the Struggle alive and united the world against apartheid? <\/p>\n Should we focus on the man who united South Africa by becoming our first democratic president?<\/p>\n We will remember him in all of these phases of his life, but we will remember him most of all for his extraordinary capacity to forgive.\u201d<\/p>\n Today<\/strong>, we enjoy the freedom for which he fought and the democracy he desired under the auspices of the African National Congress.\u00a0 As we bid him farewell we must promise to continue to build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations. <\/p>\n Rest in peace Tata.\u00a0 You have done more than any man should or could do.\u201d<\/p>\n Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela:\u00a0 The Father of our Nation and Icon of our Struggle is no more, but we will forever have you, Madiba, as our nearest and brightest star to guide us on our way.\u00a0 We will not get lost! <\/p>\n I Thank You<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tribute by The Premier of the NOrthern Cape. Ms Silvia Lucas, on the occation of the memorial service held in honour of former President Nelson, on the 11 December 2013 at the Mittah Seperepere Convention Centre in Kimberley<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speeches"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/otp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/otp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/otp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/otp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/otp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/otp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/otp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/otp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/otp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela:<\/strong> The Father of our Nation and Icon of our struggle is no more!<\/p>\n
We assure the Mandela Family<\/strong>, that Madiba\u2019s dedication in building a united, democratic, non-racial and just South Africa will continue unabated.\u00a0 Tata Madiba, as a Member and Leader of the African National Congress, dedicated his entire life to the struggle for the liberation of his people and to bring about a more just world order.\u00a0 It therefore came as no surprise when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Isithwalandwe-Seaparankwe, Member of the Order of Mapungubwe and numerous other accolades, including honorary doctorates from Universities across the world.\u00a0 The universal acclaim and recognition he earned is beyond description.<\/p>\n