10 February 2004
Madam Speaker
Whenever the Honourable Tony Leon speaks, it appears as if he despises South Africa; he dislikes its people; and he undermines public confidence in our country.
At home and abroad, he consistently projects negative images of our country, its leaders and its people.
It's about crime and alleged corruption, the danger of one-party dictatorship and a power hungry President. It's a picture of doom and gloom.
The Hon. Leon's politics is potently destructive. It is patently divisive. And, it is designed to leave South Africans demobilised and disunited.
That is why he will go down in our history, not as a nation-builder, but as one who has polarized our society.
Madam Speaker
In Shakespearean theatre, the royal comedian often proclaimed the truth to his Majesty through humour.
Perhaps in our democracy, Karen Bliksem of The Sunday Independent can be likened to a modern day court jester.
She captured a truth this weekend when she called the Hon. Leon, "the DA Fuhrer".
She said, "C'mon Tone, things aren't that serious. It seems unlikely that you will ever take responsibility for anything large (like, say, the government) in my lifetime or yours."
The Hon. Leon will not become the President of South Africa after the 2004 election. Maybe destiny has it in store for you in 4002.
In contrast to the Hon. Leon's political cacophony, listen to the voices of ordinary South Africans, who go about their daily lives building our nation. Some of these voices are poignantly captured in Antjie Krog's latest book, A Change of Tongue.
In her opening Chapter, she describes the victory of a black athlete in a predominantly white school at an inter-schools athletics meeting in the following way:-
"The pavilion crowd is on its feet. The black parents are yelling wildly and pressing against the railing…The white parents cheering, one tossing a hat into the air… "Why is everybody happy?" Krog asks a man next to her. And listen to his reply. "The blacks are happy because it is a black kid beating the whites. The whites are happy because the winning kid is from a white school and was trained by them." That is precisely the point. All South Africans- Africans, Coloureds, Indians and Whites- can play a meaningful role in building our non-racial democracy. We may do so from different perspectives, with different purposes in mind.
We can contribute to nation-building by forging partnerships with the democratic government. A good example of this is the work of the Lenasia-based Crescent of Hope, which has teamed up with Mpumulanga government to provide borehole water to villages in remote areas in the province.
We can build South Africa by working within organs of civil society, such as the Gandhi Walk Committee, which raises funds annually and then distributes these to over 10 development organizations in and around Lenasia. And, we can do so by individual acts of kindness. I wish to cite the particular example of Mrs Zohra Gaibee (Mayfair), who makes and sells Indian pickles/achaar and uses all her profits to educate 2 boys from the Transkei and 4 orphans in Bosnia.
These are golden examples of ordinary South Africans doing something to help build our nation.
But a conflict-ridden society such as ours can only be healed through forgiveness, humility and sensitivity. It cannot be built on political arrogance as exemplified by the Democratic Alliance.
Many South Africans across the racial spectrum have drunk the milk of human kindness. They have forgiven their former tormentors and oppressors.
Whatever the imperfections of the TRC, it became the historical instrument that allowed thousands of South Africans to render forgiveness; to bury the past; and, to move forward. That process is beautifully captured in a poem written by the 18 year old Emma Hendrie :
Memories bubble to the surface
And erupt with pain
Generating heated words
Which burn to be said and burn to be heard.
Microphones turn shameful whispers into booming confessions
And private sobs of grief into the mourning if a nation
Shame and sorrow, but ultimately
Tears are the common product.
The forgiver and the forgiven are welded together
By the cathartic reaction of conflicting memories
And finally, through the searing handshake,
Two opposing truths are forged into a single understanding.
This is how a nation is born, moulded and built!
Madam Speaker
The Hon. Leon has another bad habit, which he displays in public every now and then. He has tried to drive a wedge between the politics of former President Mandela and President Mbeki, casting the one as a good guy and the other as bad.
He has attacked President Mbeki for allegedly turning his back on the path of national reconciliation and for re-opening racial wounds.
He accuses the President of espousing a narrow-minded Africanism, as opposed to the broad South Africanism of Mandela.
Nothing is further from the truth.
President Mbeki has consistently sought to interact and converse with all communities in South Africa.
Last year, he addressed a major gathering of the South African Jewish Community.
President Mbeki has visited my hometown on three separate occasions, the most memorable being the annual Diwali celebrations held at the Lenasia Soccer Stadium organized by the Hindu Co-ordinating Council in Gauteng.
He has held ongoing dialogues with religious leaders through the National Religious Forum. He has walked the dusty roads of dorpies in the Cape Platteland and listened to Coloured woman speak their mind.
He has spoken to young Afrikaners.
He has interacted with the representatives of business - black and white- and with militant trade unionists.
So the reality is that he has reached out to leaders and representatives of all racial, class, religious and cultural communities in South Africa.
His door is open to all, except that there may be some who don't wish to knock on his door.
But his door remains decidedly shut to those who have used terrorism to advance their cause. In turn they have threatened our national security and undermined our nation and our democratic order. The wave of urban terror in the Western Cape in the mid-1990s, and the more recent bombings by the white right-wing represent the systematic use of coercive intimidation to secure narrow political ends and to destabilize democratic rule.
It is the work of desperate groups who are afraid of democracy and freedom. In the case of the Western Cape, terror attacks against gangsters and drug dealers soon degenerated into violent attacks on Muslim religious leaders and academics, government officials and on symbols of the state.
And in the most recent case terror attacks have targeted a mosque, a Buddist temple and civilian transport infrastructure.
They aim to instill panic in society, spark off religious and racial conflict and extract ill-gained concessions from government.
It is to the credit of our democracy that all political parties in this House have unreservedly condemned these acts of terror.
And it is a credit to the ANC-led government that it has successfully contained the terror threats against our country and our people.
Democracies throughout the world are vulnerable to terrorist attacks, but a young and fragile democracy such as ours is even more vulnerable.
It is highly commendable that our democratic state has acted swiftly to smash terror groups in South Africa, and, it is more commendable that it has done so without unduly restricting or curtailing civil liberties and individual freedoms.
This inspires confidence in our nation and in our democratic institutions.
Madam Speaker
We live in an era where race, ethnicity, religion and culture and imperialism have torn asunder many nations in the world, particularly in the Third World.
Ethno-nationalist and ethno-religious conflicts have resulted in brutal massacres, genocide and failed states.
One can cite numerous examples- Yugoslavia, Burundi and Somalia are but a few. South Africa pulled itself back from the edge of the precipice on the eve of the first democratic elections in 1994.
While many political leaders can claim some responsibility for the peaceful transition to democracy, the lion's share undoubtedly must go to the leadership of the ANC.
The origins of this success lies in the Freedom Charter, adopted in June 1955, which declared that South Africa belongs to all who live in it- black and white.
We are one nation. We are politically united in spite of our diverse cultures, languages, religious and racial and ethic identifies.
We are proudly South African.
After 10 years we have a functioning and cohesive nation-state, a government that enjoys popular legitimacy, and, an administration that is displaying greater capacity to distribute public services efficiently and equitably.
This is the miracle of our country- the center is holding.
The greater miracle is that the prophets of doom or the traditional doomsayers have been proven wrong.
Some like Rian Malan are big enough to acknowledge it-albeit belatedly. Others, I suppose, never will.
This government and its people must claim the credit for the growing sense of patriotism that we experience.
The hour has come for the Hon. Leon to stop punting doomsday messages. Don't put our country down!
Leon must listen carefully to the humble advice of a quiet and unassuming South African poet, Shabir Banoobhai, when he says:-
"Our understanding of truth is coloured by who we are. This very statement reveals the particular understanding of a particular person with particular limitations. ..This does not mean that nothing is true. It simply means that we may understand something as true, when it is not….This is our right. But your right to be wrong does not give you the right to mislead others."