Speech by the Chief Whip of the majority party, Dr Mathole Motshekga, on the ocassion of the State of the Nation Debate

4 June 2009

Before his inauguration on the 9th of May 2009, it rained to purify our land and its people. The sun shined immediately to mark the moment of renewal and to signal the pleasure of god and the gods at the ascension of the popularly elected Jacob Zuma to the throne.

The inauguration of the President marked the beginning of the era of renewal. His opening address to parliament contained a ten point national programme of renewal. This programme is deeply rooted in spiritual and moral values that the President, like his predecessors cherishes and believes are the prerequisites for building cohesive caring and sustainable communities.

In the opening paragraph of his speech the President displayed a deep commitment to the moral and democratic culture and values born out of the spirituality and protracted struggles of our people which gave birth to freedom and independence from the inhuman apartheid system.

He highlighted the people's desire for change and their endorsement of the ANC's call for unity and co-operation for continuity and change. He re-affirmed the vision of an inclusive society united in its diversity and the collective well-being embodied in the Freedom Charter, which profoundly influenced the 1996 Constitution.

The President correctly recognized and acknowledged that the ANC received a decisive electoral mandate to create a cohesive, caring and sustainable society based on spiritual, moral and democratic values.

Furthermore, he demonstrated his confidence in the institutions of democracy including the Judiciary, established on the basis of and to give effect to our revolutionary democratic culture and values. He recognized and acknowledged the contribution of the founding President of the Republic, Tata Nelson Mandela and his successor's comrades Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe and highlighted our culture of continuity and collective responsibility and our exceptional ability to manage change.

President Zuma placed the war against poverty at the centre of our efforts to recover/restore the humanity of black people as a surest means of securing the humanity of all South Africans, both black and white. He made the war against poverty the cornerstone of his administration because he knows from experience that poverty dehumanizes, that is, it robs people of their human dignity.

The President reaffirmed that through social partnerships we can recover our humanity and its inherent values, create cohesive, caring and sustainable communities. President Zuma and our revolutionary movement, the ANC, did not suddenly discover spiritual and moral values because of the 2009 elections. From its inception the ANC's moral vision was shaped by spirituality and revolutionary moral values.

In his 1892 public lecture titled "Upon my Native Land" the founding president of the ANC and self-confessed Ethiopian Christian John Langalibalele Dube foresaw the birth of a spiritual, humane, caring and prosperous Africa.

The values were echoed by Dr. Pixley Isaka Ka Seme, the convenor of the founding conference of the ANC and the architect of the concept of the African Renaissance.

In his ground breaking speech President Zuma echoed Dr. Pixley Isaka Ka Seme's call for unity and co-operation.

In his call for social partnerships President Zuma followed the path of the founders of the ANC who included intellectuals, traditional and religious leaders.

The President's commitment to work for a better Africa and the world stems from the ANC 1919 Constitution which described it as a Pan African organisation.

Soon after its formation the ANC realised and acknowledged the need to build cohesive, caring and sustainable communities. For instance, in 1912 Rev. ZR Mahabane, observed in a public lecture that Africans were degraded and forcibly robbed of their humanity, denied the vote, made landless, homeless and hopeless. Thus at the 1923 ANC National Conference Rev. Mahabane argued that the African Condition challenged the ANC to strive for the recovery of African humanity (Ubuntu / Botho) as a prerequisite for the recovery of the humanity of all the people, both black and white. At this conference the ANC adopted the first Bill of Rights on the African Continent.

The opening paragraph of this Bill of Rights reasserted the African humanity (Ubuntu / Botho) and went on to demand the participation of African people in the economic life of the country. In 1943 the ANC adopted the African Claims, the second Bill of Rights which called for the right of African people to self determination, cultural, social and economic rights five years before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1945 the Pan African Conference held in Manchester in the UK established the principle that working together we can achieve our rights. The conference called on peasants and workers, intellectuals, students, women and the youth, traditional and religious leaders to use all the means at their disposal to liberate their countries.

The 1955 Freedom Charter adopted under the stewardship of former ANC President Albert Luthuli which shaped our vision of post Apartheid South Africa and profoundly influenced our Constitution was the product of unity and co-operation of the kind that President Zuma spoke about. The first and only Congress of the people on South African soil inherited and propagated revolutionary morality and values of a cohesive and caring society.

Luthuli embraced all sectors and people of different political persuasions. He reconciled his African culture, Christianity, traditional leadership and political leadership and saw nothing wrong in the alliance between the workers organisations and the Communist party of South Africa, among others.

Like Seme, Nkosi Albert Luthuli called for a unique civilisation for Africa and Africans. Following in their path President Zuma told a gathering of intellectuals at the University of Johannesburg that universities should not produce graduates who are aliens to themselves.

These are the values that President Zuma called on us to use for building cohesive, caring and sustainable communities.

Since his election as ANC President in Polokwane, President Zuma called on the youth, women, rural poor, workers, professionals, traditional healers, traditional and religious leaders to work together for the improvement of the quality of life of all South Africans.

The social partnerships which emerged from this call saw unprecedented social mobilization.

For the first time South Africa saw a high level of racial and religious tolerance that led to interfaith gatherings including traditional healers and practitioners of African religion. This racial and religious tolerance has also seen the birth of a partnership between Afrikaner Churches and the ANC Commission on Religious Affairs and the National Interfaith Leaders Forum that is rooted among the people. The Forum and its provincial, regional and local structures have put moral regeneration for sustainable development at the centre of its desired partnerships with government for the creation of cohesive, caring and sustainable communities.

In its manifesto the ANC undertook to enter into partnerships with interfaith forums to advance social education for moral regeneration, religious tolerance, social cohesion and development.

President Zuma is alive to moral decay in our society. He condemns all manifestations of moral degeneration.

The envisaged partnership between President Zuma's administration and interfaith organizations should address, inter alia the challenges of moral degeneration through social education

The President derived his moral vision from his predecessors, especially our icon Nelson Mandela, and ANC Conference resolutions.

For instance in his address to the National Presidential Interfaith Leaders Summit he observed that our Constitution embodies the values of a just and caring society that the ANC seeks to build. More specifically he observed that the ANC seeks to build:

"A caring society based on Ubuntu values and principles. Our value system based on Ubuntu, promotes social cohesion and nation building by transcending our cultural, religious, racial, gender and class differences".

One of the resolutions of Polokwane Conference was to integrate Ubuntu / Botho value and principles into public policy.

The ANC Strategy and Tactics document adopted by the Polokwane conference highlights the universality of the spiritual philosophy of Ubuntu / Botho. It states that:

"The dark might of white minority political domination is receding into a distant memory, yet we are only at the beginning of a long journey to a truly united, democratic and prosperous South Africa in which the value of all citizens is measured by their humanity (Ubuntu / Botho), without regard to race, gender, and social status".

The Polokwane Conference therefore correctly elevated Ubuntu principles to an overarching value system for all South Africans, both black and white.

In his address to the National Interfaith Leader Summit held in Kempton Park on the 27th November 2008 President Zuma re-affirmed Ubuntu values and principles:

"The challenge is how do we then inculcate these values in our society, starting with our children? We want to use education as a tool to cultivate moral and social values among the youth and encourage them to lead healthy lifestyles". We want our children to respect the next person on the bases of their humanity, and not based on there status in life.

To promote these values among all our people, we need to work together in all provinces in a structured way.

The provincial interfaith forums should play a leading role in promoting moral regeneration and in the promotion of values to help us to build the caring society we envisage.

The National Interfaith leaders Forum and its provincial, regional and local forums have identified social dialogues and education as the surest means of moral regeneration for sustainable development.

The President envisaged the partnership between interfaith organisations and government in definite and emphatic terms:

"We also see a critical role for religious bodies in providing social education and to help us build a caring society. From their inception religious institutions played both a spiritual support and developmental role".

A parish would have a

• House of worship
• A library
• Community Hall
• Community gardens
• Workshops for creative industries
• Health clinics and a school

On partnership between interfaith organisations and government President Zuma had this to say;

"Many church institutions have under-utilised facilities which can be used for social education in partnership with government and the private sector. Social education would be address, in particular moral regeneration and social development.

Most importantly, we urge the faith communities to partner with us to achieve moral regeneration for sustainable development. Together with faith based organisations, we engaged in the struggle to eradicate racism, sexism, gender and inequality and class oppression. We have also worked together past - 1994 on reconstruction and development."

In September 2008 the ANC wished well all religions, including African religion, celebrating their spiritual and cultural festivals as the surest means of inculcating values and principles.

African religion is not only a fountain head of spiritual and moral values but it is also important for moral regeneration, rural development and agrarian reform. It provides an indigenous calendar that regulates spiritual cultural and agricultural festivals based on a cosmic framework which transcends race, creed and religion. For instance it divides the year into the ploughing and first fruits, harvesting and initiation seasons of four months each and four quarters of the year.

This African calendrical system places the New Year in September which is shared by the Muslims, Jewish and many indigenous African faith communities. The recognition of this calender would promote rural development and agriculture based on indigenous knowledge systems that are rooted in African tangible and intangible heritage. The annual celebration of these cultural festivals by rural communities would restore spiritual and moral values, the work ethic, love for agriculture and the culture of self-help and self-reliance.

The role of faith communities in development as envisaged by president Zuma poses challenges to government department, especially Arts and Culture, Social Development, Education and Agriculture to consider urgently the establishment of the desired partnerships with Interfaith organizations for sustainable development.

On his 91st birthday on the 18 July 2009 we shall be celebrating Mandela Day which offers us a platform to recall and internalize Ubuntu values and principles that Mandela espoused and used in his service of humanity in our troubled world. The annual celebration of this day will offer us a platform to celebrate and internalize our history, culture and revolutionary values of human compassion, social and international solidarity. The day offers all of us, including the workers, families and learners the opportunity to let their inner light shine upon others through our services to others.

Through its constituency offices throughout the country the ANC will call on all communities and sectoral organizations to celebrate Mandela Day on July, 18 2009 by spending at least 67 minutes of their time doing something useful within their communities especially among the less fortunate. This will mark the beginning of a nationwide effort to build a caring society, on this day the ANC idea of an activist Parliament will be realised. All public representatives will be instructed to lead Community Work Campaigns on Mandela Day every year.

In conclusion, all of the things I have said above, were said proceeding from the understanding that comprehensive social transformation entails changing the material conditions of all South Africans for the better, but also ensuring that we forged a nation inspired by values of human solidarity. It is the combination of these factors that describe the civilisation of national democracy that we seek to build.

Issued by the ANC Parliamentary Caucus
Parliament of RSA
Cape Town

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