Keynote Address by Honourable MEC for Culture, Sport and Recreation, Ms Norah Mahlangu-Mabena on the occasion of celebration Africa Day 2015 in Schoemansdal.
Esteemed Representatives from the Mozambique government
Esteemed Representatives from Swaziland
Executive Mayor of Nkomazi Municipality
Councillors Present
Traditional Leaders
Fellow African Brothers and Sisters
Programme Director, we are indeed gratified to address an occasion of this magnitude as Africa Day represents our proudest moment as Africans where we celebrate our beings and selfless service and dedication of our African brothers and sisters to the cause of the development of our continent. It is worthy to reflect and applaud the constant heroic deeds that Africans make worldwide be it on the economy front, politics, religion, sport, music and culture amongst others fields. Therefore, on a day like today, we should all proudly proclaim our Africanness.
Africans are proving that indeed our continent is an equal partner on the world stage and we are progressing well in the renaissance of Africa which will not be an event but a project that will need dedication in order for us to uplift the lives of all Africans. We are seeing progress in all corners of Africa where there is peace and democracy and political means to find solutions through credible, free and fair elections and there is now without doubt a new approach to leadership in Africa. Our leaders are preoccupied with the development agenda of their countries as envisaged by the African Union and their efforts need to be encouraged and we will not rest until all conflicts are peacefully resolved in all corners of Africa.
Our forbearers had a vision of a united Africa when they formed the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa on the 25th of May 1963 whose aim was to co-ordinate and intensify the co-operation of African states in order to achieve a better life for the people of Africa, to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of African states and to the eradication of all forms of colonialism and white minority rule as, when it was established, there were several states that had not yet won their independence or were under white minority-rule like South Africa and Angola.
The OAU was preceded by the African Union (AU) which was launched here in South African on the 9th of July 2002 to promote greater unity and solidarity among African countries and to accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of Africa and to be at the forefront of the drive for peace, security, and stability on the continent.
As Africans, our diverse culture is an instrument that should be used to unite us so that we can harmoniously live among ourselves and we are indeed very happy that our leaders from Mozambique and Swaziland have graced today’s celebration. We have a common cause of working towards an Africa that will be free from poverty, disease, lack of economic opportunities and under development and we are all duty-bound to achieve the ideals that the 1963 generation stood for. We have never lacked noble leaders as Africa and we have produced finest leaders who made immense contributions worldwide and the likes of Nelson Mandela, Samora Machel, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda and Olesagun Obasanjo among others come to mind as tried and tested leaders.
Today Africans are faced with different challenges as compared to our forbearers and we need to advance our skills through education so that we can equally compete with our peers from other continents. We therefore need to concentrate on education and ensure that we create institutions that will equip our people with latest technological trends and share knowledge among ourselves so that we can contribute to the world economy by not only producing and exporting raw materials which are then refined and resold at higher prices to our people. Africa is rich with resources and we need to exploit them to our advantage and ensure that we use them to address social ills still afflicting us.
This will require hard work and dedication and an unswerving commitment by all Africans as no one but ourselves can uplift and improve the lives of our people from Cape to Cairo. We must all help to create a legacy of Africa so that we can one look back with pride and proudly declare that our collective efforts bore fruits for our continent. It therefore becomes imperative for all of us to resuscitate the common vision that our predecessors had when they worked together to eradicate colonialism in Africa as the same spirit of camaraderie that prevailed then should be the same spirit that we adopt as we address socio challenge facing us.
Here in South Africa, we have had the unfortunate experience of isolated cases where our brothers and sisters from Africa were attacked and violated by a few criminal elements within our society. This was the work of a few criminal elements whose deeds do not reflect the character of the broader society who have embraced our brothers and sisters from the mother continent and live harmoniously with them. We condemned these acts of criminality and as government we commit to continuously act tough to stop such acts as they do not have space in our country.
Those criminals’ actions expressed a serious failure of memory as our long years of the struggle against apartheid where comrades from African countries joined hands with us to fight and defeat the apartheid regime and their homes were our homes then. It is against this background that we condemned attacks on our African brothers and sisters and our law enforcing structures will deal harshly against perpetrators of such deeds. We reaffirm our commitment to continental integration as we cannot be in a position to enjoy political, economic and social security in our country if other countries within Africa grapple with underdevelopment and poverty as this will lead to a high number of illegal immigrants into our country seeking to eke out a living. It is imperative that we work together as Africans to grown our economy so that we can stop the illegal migration of our people to other countries for menial jobs.
We have being celebrating Africa month with a variety of activities in our country under the theme: “Africa Unite Against Xenophobia for Peace & Friendship from Cape to Cairo”. Our activities were also aimed at supporting the AU 2015 theme: “Women Empowerment and Development towards Agenda 2063”.
We have one of our models from Mpumalanga, Mpumelelo Luphoko. who will be representing the entire continent from the 3rd of June in Europe at the Miss Fashion TV 2015. She will be competing against other models from other continents and I encourage all people on the continent to rally behind her.
Programme Director, as we embark on the path ahead as Africans, we need to preoccupy ourselves with things that unite us rather than those that divide us. We can tap in the rich history and heritage of our continent and share various aspects of these chapters so that we can have exciting cultural exchanges that will bore the daily mishaps that we might be experiencing. We have African artists that cut across all countries and the likes of Hugh Masekela, Salif Keita and Oliver Mtukudzi come to mind and these are the kind of artists that we should rally behind and embrace as they are our heroes on the arts front.
In Conclusion Programme Director, we commit ourselves to the cause of Africa and we are proudly African as in the words of former president Thabo Mbeki, we owe our being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land in Africa.
Keynote Address by Honourable MEC for Culture, Sport and Recreation, Ms Norah Mahlangu-Mabena on the occasion of celebration Africa Day 2015 in Schoemansdal.
Esteemed Representatives from the Mozambique government
Esteemed Representatives from Swaziland
Executive Mayor of Nkomazi Municipality
Councillors Present
Traditional Leaders
Fellow African Brothers and Sisters
Programme Director, we are indeed gratified to address an occasion of this magnitude as Africa Day represents our proudest moment as Africans where we celebrate our beings and selfless service and dedication of our African brothers and sisters to the cause of the development of our continent. It is worthy to reflect and applaud the constant heroic deeds that Africans make worldwide be it on the economy front, politics, religion, sport, music and culture amongst others fields. Therefore, on a day like today, we should all proudly proclaim our Africanness.
Africans are proving that indeed our continent is an equal partner on the world stage and we are progressing well in the renaissance of Africa which will not be an event but a project that will need dedication in order for us to uplift the lives of all Africans. We are seeing progress in all corners of Africa where there is peace and democracy and political means to find solutions through credible, free and fair elections and there is now without doubt a new approach to leadership in Africa. Our leaders are preoccupied with the development agenda of their countries as envisaged by the African Union and their efforts need to be encouraged and we will not rest until all conflicts are peacefully resolved in all corners of Africa.
Our forbearers had a vision of a united Africa when they formed the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa on the 25th of May 1963 whose aim was to co-ordinate and intensify the co-operation of African states in order to achieve a better life for the people of Africa, to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of African states and to the eradication of all forms of colonialism and white minority rule as, when it was established, there were several states that had not yet won their independence or were under white minority-rule like South Africa and Angola.
The OAU was preceded by the African Union (AU) which was launched here in South African on the 9th of July 2002 to promote greater unity and solidarity among African countries and to accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of Africa and to be at the forefront of the drive for peace, security, and stability on the continent.
As Africans, our diverse culture is an instrument that should be used to unite us so that we can harmoniously live among ourselves and we are indeed very happy that our leaders from Mozambique and Swaziland have graced today’s celebration. We have a common cause of working towards an Africa that will be free from poverty, disease, lack of economic opportunities and under development and we are all duty-bound to achieve the ideals that the 1963 generation stood for. We have never lacked noble leaders as Africa and we have produced finest leaders who made immense contributions worldwide and the likes of Nelson Mandela, Samora Machel, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda and Olesagun Obasanjo among others come to mind as tried and tested leaders.
Today Africans are faced with different challenges as compared to our forbearers and we need to advance our skills through education so that we can equally compete with our peers from other continents. We therefore need to concentrate on education and ensure that we create institutions that will equip our people with latest technological trends and share knowledge among ourselves so that we can contribute to the world economy by not only producing and exporting raw materials which are then refined and resold at higher prices to our people. Africa is rich with resources and we need to exploit them to our advantage and ensure that we use them to address social ills still afflicting us.
This will require hard work and dedication and an unswerving commitment by all Africans as no one but ourselves can uplift and improve the lives of our people from Cape to Cairo. We must all help to create a legacy of Africa so that we can one look back with pride and proudly declare that our collective efforts bore fruits for our continent. It therefore becomes imperative for all of us to resuscitate the common vision that our predecessors had when they worked together to eradicate colonialism in Africa as the same spirit of camaraderie that prevailed then should be the same spirit that we adopt as we address socio challenge facing us.
Here in South Africa, we have had the unfortunate experience of isolated cases where our brothers and sisters from Africa were attacked and violated by a few criminal elements within our society. This was the work of a few criminal elements whose deeds do not reflect the character of the broader society who have embraced our brothers and sisters from the mother continent and live harmoniously with them. We condemned these acts of criminality and as government we commit to continuously act tough to stop such acts as they do not have space in our country.
Those criminals’ actions expressed a serious failure of memory as our long years of the struggle against apartheid where comrades from African countries joined hands with us to fight and defeat the apartheid regime and their homes were our homes then. It is against this background that we condemned attacks on our African brothers and sisters and our law enforcing structures will deal harshly against perpetrators of such deeds. We reaffirm our commitment to continental integration as we cannot be in a position to enjoy political, economic and social security in our country if other countries within Africa grapple with underdevelopment and poverty as this will lead to a high number of illegal immigrants into our country seeking to eke out a living. It is imperative that we work together as Africans to grown our economy so that we can stop the illegal migration of our people to other countries for menial jobs.
We have being celebrating Africa month with a variety of activities in our country under the theme: “Africa Unite Against Xenophobia for Peace & Friendship from Cape to Cairo”. Our activities were also aimed at supporting the AU 2015 theme: “Women Empowerment and Development towards Agenda 2063”.
We have one of our models from Mpumalanga, Mpumelelo Luphoko. who will be representing the entire continent from the 3rd of June in Europe at the Miss Fashion TV 2015. She will be competing against other models from other continents and I encourage all people on the continent to rally behind her.
Programme Director, as we embark on the path ahead as Africans, we need to preoccupy ourselves with things that unite us rather than those that divide us. We can tap in the rich history and heritage of our continent and share various aspects of these chapters so that we can have exciting cultural exchanges that will bore the daily mishaps that we might be experiencing. We have African artists that cut across all countries and the likes of Hugh Masekela, Salif Keita and Oliver Mtukudzi come to mind and these are the kind of artists that we should rally behind and embrace as they are our heroes on the arts front.
In Conclusion Programme Director, we commit ourselves to the cause of Africa and we are proudly African as in the words of former president Thabo Mbeki, we owe our being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land in Africa.