Address during a joint sitting of Parliament to mark 10 years
of Democracy In South Africa

Monday 10 May 2004, Cape Town

Madam Speaker
Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces
Deputy
Speaker
Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP
Mister President
Deputy
President
Members of the Cabinet
Premiers
Honourable Members

We are deeply moved and humbled by your magnanimous gesture in inviting us to
address this joint session of the two houses of parliament.

We are aware, Madam Speaker, that an exception to the standing rules had to
be made in order to allow a retired old pensioner, who is neither a member of
parliament nor the serving head of state of any country, to address you. That
all the parties represen ted in Parliament unanimously consented to this
extra-ordinary departure from the rules touches us, not only for the honour it
pays us but also for the spirit of our nation that it speaks of.

We remember, Madam Speaker, that on this exact day ten years ago democratic
South Africa celebrated its ceremonial birth with the inauguration of its first
President and two Deputy Presidents. We recall the joy and excitement of a
nation that had found its elf: the collective relief that we had stepped out of
our restrictive past and the expectant air of walking into a brighter future.

The national climate was one of magnanimity and a great generosity of spirit.
As a people we were enormously proud of what we had achieved, negotiating
amongst ourselves a peaceful resolution to what was regarded as one of the most
intractable situations o f conflict in the world.

We were not unaware of or blind to the extent, depth and gravity of the
challenges ahead of us as we set out on that day to transform, reconstruct and
develop our nation and our society. However, the overwhelming feelings in those
early days of democratic nationhood were of hope and confidence. We had
miraculously - as many said - transcended the deep divisions of our past to
create a new inclusive democratic order; we had confidence that as a nation we
would similarly confront and deal with the challenges of reconstruction and
development.

Madam Speaker, this old man - who was greatly honoured by the nation and
parliament to be elected founding President of democratic South Africa - notes
with immense satisfaction and pride today the persistence and strengthening of
that spirit of generosity , magnanimity and confident hopefulness about the
future of our nation.

Merely observing this parliament inspires national pride and confidence. We,
the people of South Africa, the Preamble to our Constitution states, believe
that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity. The
make-up of this Parliame nt confirms that the people of South Africa had spoken
in all its diversity, asserting the strength of our unity in diversity.

Allow us, Madam Speaker to congratulate you, the Chairperson of the National
Council of Provinces and your deputies on your election to these important and
prestigious positions in our democracy. Parliament is the voice of the people
and you, the presiding officers, bear a heavy responsibility in ensuring that
that voice is clearly heard in national affairs and that its role be protected
and defended.

Similarly, our congratulations to all the members of parliament in whom the
nation has put its trust. Yours is the almost sacred duty to ensure government
by the people under the Constitution.

Madam Speaker, we also wish to extend congratulations to our President and to
those that he has appointed as members of his national Cabinet and to the
positions of provincial Premiers.

I have said it so often, but want to repeat it here at what must certainly be
the last time that parliament will bend its own rules to allow me to address it:
no President or Prime Minister in the history of this country can claim to have
done more for the people and the country than has been achieved by President
Thabo Mbeki.

He is a modest man and I know he would prefer that I do not sing his personal
praises, but his achievement as President and national leader is the embodiment
of what our nation is capable of. Public acknowledgement of his achievements is
to affirm ourselve s as a nation, to assert the confidence with which we face
our national future and conduct ourselves on the international stage.

Thank you, Mister President, for leading us with such vision and dedication
to your task.

Assuming, Madam Speaker, that Parliament is not cavalier about its own rules
and that this is my last address to this House: what do I wish for our democracy
in this second decade that we have entered?

Let us never be unmindful of the terrible past from which we come - that
memory not as a means to keep us shackled to the past in a negative manner, but
rather as a joyous reminder of how far we have come and how much we have
achieved. The memory of a hist ory of division and hate, injustice and
suffering, inhumanity of person against person should inspire us to celebrate
our own demonstration of the capacity of human beings to progress, to go
forward, to improve, to do better.

There are many theoretical debates about the meaning of democracy that I am
not qualified to enter into. A guiding principle in our search for and
establishment of a non-racial inclusive democracy in our country has been that
there are good men and women t o be found in all groups and from all sectors of
society; and that in an open and free society those South Africans will come
together to jointly and co-operatively realise the common good.

My wish is that South Africans never give up on the belief in goodness, that
they cherish that faith in human beings as a cornerstone of our democracy. The
first value mentioned under the founding principles of our Constitution is that
of human dignity. We accord persons dignity by assuming that they are good, that
they share the human qualities we ascribe to ourselves. Historical enemies
succeeded in negotiating a peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy
exactly because we were prepared to accept th e inherent capacity for goodness
in the other.

We live in a world where there is enough reason for cynicism and despair. We
watch as two of the leading democracies, two leading nations of the free world,
get involved in a war that the United Nations did not sanction; we look on with
horror as reports s urface of terrible abuses against the dignity of human
beings held captive by invading forces in their own country. We see how the
powerful countries - all of them democracies - manipulate multilateral bodies to
the great disadvantage and suffering of the poorer developing nations.

There is enough reason for cynicism and despair.

But then we should take heart from our own experience and performance. Let us
refrain from chauvinistic breast-beating; but let also not underrate what we
have achieved in establishing a stable and progressive democracy where we take
freedoms seriously; in building national unity in spite of decades and centuries
of apartheid and colonial rule; in creating a culture in which we increasingly
respect the dignity of all.

In a cynical world we have become an inspiration to many. We signal that good
can be achieved amongst human beings who are prepared to trust, prepared to
belief in the goodness of people.

Poverty, unemployment, preventable disease and ill-health, and other forms of
social deprivation continue to blot our landscape as we strive to give content
to the democratic commitment of a better life for all.

Nothing impairs the dignity of a person so much as not being able to find
work and gainful employment. HIV/AIDS continues to threaten our future in a
particularly frightening manner.

Our democracy must bring its material fruits to all, particularly the poor,
marginalised and vulnerable. Our belief in the common good ultimately translates
in to a deep concern for those that suffer want and deprivation of any kind.

We are inspired by the commitment that has emerged from all parties that have
participated in the past elections. This parliament, leading into the second
decade of democracy, promises to take seriously that contract with the people to
improve their lives.

We are impressed by the spirit of inclusiveness exuded by our legislature and
our executive. We are warmed by the spirit of generosity that continues to
characterise our nation and national efforts.

Madam Speaker, we thank Parliament for this opportunity to greet the dawn of
our second decade of democracy. We wish you well.

May God protect our people.
Nkosi sikelel'iAfrika. Morena boloka setjhaba
sa heso.
God seen Suid-Afrika. God bless South Africa.
Mudzimu
thatutshedza Afurika. Hosi katekisa Afrika.

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