South African History Online

Speech at the Renaming of the Ahmed Timol School

29 March 1999

Master of ceremonies
Ladies and gentlemen
Friends

I am very glad to be able to spend even this short while with you. It is
always a special pleasure to be with teachers, parents and my favourite kind of
people, the youth.

Few things in life are as painful as losing one's child. Anyone who doubted
that, had only to listen to the testimony of Ahmed Timol's mother as she told
her story to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The memory of the
suffering, frail woman, like thousands of other mothers who appeared before the
Truth Commission, still brings us as much pain as the inhumanity of her son's
death.

Like most of you, I did not know Timol personally. But all of us, I'm sure,
wonder who he would be if he were alive today.

Would he have been a father and a teacher himself and perhaps have taught at
this very school?

What we can say with certainty, is that Timol was a brave young man who
believed in freedom and justice, and who fought for non-racialism and democracy.

Timol would have been proud to be citizen of a democratic South Africa, where
all our cultures and religions are guaranteed by the constitution. He would have
rejoiced in the fact that we are on the eve of our second democratic elections.
He would surely have been amongst the first to register and to mobilise others
to do so, so that they can make their voice heard in the elections on 2 June.

Living in Azaadville he would have been proud of a community that is a thread
in the rich tapestry of South Africa's diversity; of this school with its large
enrolment of students from underprivileged areas; and of a community that played
a role in relief for the residents of Swanieville in times of distress.

He would have encouraged the community to be active in the building of the
new South Africa, and not to sit back and wait for government to do everything.
Democracy brings us the opportunity to have a say over our lives, and we should
do everything possible in partnership with government to tackle the problems of
crime, poverty and injustice that still prevail. Timol would have encouraged
those with skills to share them with the less privileged.

Timol the teacher would have approved of our new education system which
provides education for all children equally. But he would have also wanted those
who have opportunities his generation never had, to study hard in order to
become productive members of society.

There are also things that he would have fought against, such as corruption,
theft and unaccountable leaders.

Many youngsters today know little or nothing of the proud legacy left by our
heroes. He would have wanted the youth, all of you, to be firm in your knowledge
of where you come from.

Few of today's young people have experienced first-hand the cruelty of
apartheid repression. We hope that renaming this school after Ahmed Timol will
help you understand the courage of those who opened the way for all of us who
are free today.

We hope too that what you learn today about Timol will lead you to find out
about others like him, like Looksmart Ngudle, Imam Haroun, Neil Aggett and many
more who died because they dared to challenge the inhumanity of apartheid.

They sacrificed careers and livelihoods, and sometimes even life, so that we
all could one day live with dignity. They would want you to learn about the
strong alliances, since the time of Ghandi and Dr. Xuma, between the different
sectors of the oppressed - African, Indian, and Coloured - and the support of
democrats from the White community.

They would want you to know that our democracy is a product of all the people
of South Africa who reached out to one another across the divisions of
centuries.

That tradition is alive today in the rebuilding of our country, as men, women
and youth from every community and political party are increasingly joining
hands to work for the objective of a better life for all that Timol fought for.

Ladies and gentlemen; We thank all those who persevered in this project:
friends, family, the school governing body, teachers and the community. Ahmed
Timol's mother asked that a school be named after her son. Had she lived to see
the bright young faces I see now, she would perhaps have felt that her son did
not die in vain. I am sure that all the children at this school, knowing that,
will strive to live up to the memory of Ahmed Timol.

The best way that we can honour his memory is by ensuring that our democracy
remains strong and that it does bring a better life for all. As a nation, we are
already bringing down the walls that keep us from this goal. Each of us must do
whatever we can to bring delivery of services to those who were denied to them
before. Each of us should make our contribution to creating jobs and to
reconciling our nation.

It is a great privilege to have the task of unveiling the plaque that bears
the new name of this school. Let us remember Ahmed Timol in our striving
together to make a reality of the hopes he shared with us.