Mangosuthu University of Technology, Durban

19 September 2009

It gives me great pleasure to be with you today to renew, strengthen and move forward a long-standing dialogue which I have maintained with students over many generations. In my various capacities as leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party and former Chancellor of the University of Zululand, and through my various other ministerial and traditional leadership responsibilities, I have seen many young people going through the cycle of experiencing the mighty and empowering forces of youth, and then slowly moving into the regular patterns of life which by necessity restrict and define the options everyone has and the position one is to adopt and maintain in life.

Your age is an extraordinary one, for at this time of life all your options are still open. Within each of you lies the power to shape your future life into what it will finally become. Once that process of initial shaping is completed, it becomes very hard to reshape oneself into something different. Life is a process with no rehearsals, and it seldom offers a second chance or a new beginning.

These considerations drawn from individual experience have a more profound political significance on which I feel this conference ought to focus. As your individual future is yours to make, so our collective future as a country is for the young generation to forge. 

In this process, SADESMO must provide its own leadership, filling a political role which no one else can perform and which is absolutely necessary if your generation is to save the collective future of our country.

Each generation must find its own mission. Each generation has the historical duty to bring about its own revolution. I come from a generation which dared to dream beyond what most people believe to be reasonable. We conceived, nourished and single-mindedly pursued the dream of liberation within our time. Most of us pursued the dream knowing its importance, even though we doubted whether it could actually been realized.

We knew that even though our dream for liberation might not have been realized within our lifetime, it could nonetheless have been passed on into the hands of those who came after us and, for that reason alone, it was our duty before God and man to dream the dream. I do not know how many of you can actually realize what it meant for our generation to see that dream become reality. To this day, all that we have achieved seems unbelievable. When I ponder on it, I cannot but be deeply moved.

I urge you to conceive, nourish and single-mindedly pursue a dream as large as the one we had, and to make that the agenda for SADESMO, the agenda for the IFP and the agenda for South Africa. We live in a time in which the country seems to have no clear agenda beyond rhetoric, empty words and an endless stream of platitudes and commonplaces. We can set the agenda for the country and we must not fail the responsibility to do so. The youth has a special role to perform in this regard because, in the end, what is at stake is not my future, but yours.

At this meeting, I can offer to SADESMO and through it to the youth of South Africa my own dream and my own capacity to dream beyond the boundaries and limitations of the present. My dream is not a new one, but we must now give to it much deeper meaning and capacity of realisation. As I have often stated, I dream that one day the whole of South Africa, including all its sons and daughters, may finally enjoy the same level of prosperity, education, individual and collective human development and comfort which before liberation were enjoyed exclusively by the then ruling white minority. I dream that we can achieve this goal by creating an advanced society which is truly modern and yet truly African, so that we may achieve the highest levels of individual and collective progress as Africans.

This requires a profound transformation of our society as well as a profound transformation of who we are, to the point that the social revolution which I envisage may not come about unless accompanied by a cultural revolution which enables us to change, and to grow through that change.

What revolution do I speak of? What revolution do I envisage? What revolution am I calling for? I am not speaking of a revolution which is conducted through the barrel of the gun, or even with rebellion, disorderly conduct or destructive behaviour. Those are the easy revolutions to bring about, and I am not a man who has ever advocated the easy route, because I know that easy routes are often downhill and achieve no permanent results. History recalls an endless stream of bloody, disruptive and catastrophic revolutions which, in the end, created more problems than they solved, and inflicted on the people greater suffering and human and social cost than they intended to address.

My life experience stands as a testimony that the easy revolutions are doomed. Since I was your age, I pointed to the need of pursuing our liberation the hard way, which was through passive resistance, non-violence, civil disobedience and negotiations, negotiations and negotiations. I did so because I knew that the easy revolution of violence, terrorism and social disruption would fail in the end, while inflicting enormous social cost on the poorest of the poor. And history proved me right.

The armed struggle burned out an entire generation of youth which refused to be educated, and brought about tens of thousands of deaths amongst the poorest communities leading to nothing but failure; for in the end we all ended up pursuing a negotiated settlement - as I had advocated since the beginning - with the added pain of realising that, if anything, certain aspects of the armed struggle delayed rather than brought forward the day of liberation.

The revolution I speak of requires moral high ground, strength of intellect and a willingness to be different. I urge each generation not to conform. History would stop if our children were as good as we are. Our children bear the responsibility to be better than we are for progress to come about. It is within the law of nature that children must move away from their parents, not physically, emotionally or in terms of affection, but in that which regards how they see life and their entire set of values, parameters and perspectives.

It is consonant with the law of nature and necessary for progress that the world of children be different from that of parents, and for this reason it is imperative that you all accept the need and sometimes the pain of not conforming to the world you live in as youth, because within you lies the embryo of a new world which is to come through your own effort, and which found its moment of conception in your decision to not conform.

The revolution I speak of is one which requires the strength of one's own convictions and the willingness to take upon yourself all the burdens of our society and carry them on your shoulders from this moment on. This is no exaggeration, because those burdens are on you right now and they will affect you and your generation, not me and my generation. I will give you a single example to signify what I mean, which could be multiplied a thousand-fold.

The South African State is now operating at a loss of 650 billion Rand which it has borrowed from international bankers, pension funds and financial potentates. This money is borrowed with interest. This year the State will make up the shortfall between the revenues it can raise and the money it has committed to spend by borrowing another 80 billion Rand. The Minister of Finance has announced that this figure will be much greater next year, because the impact of the recession will be felt more strongly next year when the Government will not be able to collect its taxes, as few companies or businesses will make a taxable profit this year.

The Minister of Finance has announced that next year he may borrow an additional 127 billion Rand, but this figure could very likely become much higher. Summing all this up takes us close to a trillion Rand of debt, which is constantly requiring more and more money to be paid for the interest on the principal. Who is going to pay off this huge debt? 

I won't. My generation will not. You will. Each of you will need to work your fingers to the bone to pay off this debt. Therefore, you can see that when I urge you to accept that all the burdens of society are already on your shoulders, I am not exaggerating.

What is a revolutionary to do when confronted with these and many other burdens? I have no hesitation in mentioning Lenin, who knew a lot about revolutions and identified as the first responsibility of a revolutionary is that of education him- or her- self. Your starting point, which must become the hallmark of SADESMO and the leadership which it is to provide to the youth of South Africa, should be the call to study, study and study.

When I talk about studying, I am not referring exclusively to your curriculum in this or any other school. Your curriculum is essential, because only through your formal education will you be able to muster the skills required for your personal upbringing and growth through the ranks of society.

The growth of our nation is another one of those burdens affecting our future which lies on the shoulders of each and every one of you from this very moment. South Africa suffers under a skills crisis of immense proportions which affects the poorest segments of our society and the historical victims of apartheid. This huge burden and crisis can only be addressed by the individual efforts of each and every one of you.

In the end, our country can become an educated, learned and progressed society only if each and every one of you and every other student around the country excels in the study of his or her curriculum. In this respect, the burden of making the country grow is only partially a collective responsibility as it really boils down to an individual responsibility multiplied a million times and performed in the isolated relationship between the single student and his book or computer during homework time.

Do your curriculum first and attend to nothing else until the work dedicated to it has been completed, but do not stop there. Today's revolutionaries must educate themselves beyond what our education system has to offer and the immediate requirements of skills and training development tied to the needs of the workplace. Our liberation movement must continue, for the final goal of liberation will not be achieved until and unless your generation concretises that seemingly unreachable dream to which I referred earlier; the dream of a progressed, advanced, fair and just society.

Moving forward our liberation movement and pursuing the realisation of this dream requires a daily, ongoing, silent revolution which in turn requires a revolutionary avant garde of young men and women who have studied, studied and studied and found direction, not only for themselves but for the future of our society.

The importance of carrying the torch of integrity, which I think I successfully carried throughout my long public life, needs to be stressed. By way of example, although KwaZulu was less funded on a per capita basis than any other self-governing territory or so-called independent state, such as Transkei, Ciskei, Bophuthatswana and Venda, we were the only ones who handed over funds from KwaZulu coffers to the new democratic State in 1994. The last Minister of Finance of the Apartheid Regime, Mr Derek Keys, visited Ulundi and paid us the compliment that, as far as handling of our budget was concerned, he felt that we had a lot of lessons to teach the National Government in Pretoria.

Since this is an elective conference, I would be so happy if you choose as your leaders people who continue to carry that torch of integrity; people who will eschew corruption. Leaders must be accountable to the people who elected them. As a leader in South Africa, I can say that no one has ever been as vilified both here and abroad as I have. But all that did not intimidate me and turn me into something that was neither fish nor fowl. I stuck to my principles. I stuck to my convictions notwithstanding the lies that were disseminated throughout the world and also in South Africa about me and the organisation that I led.

I would recommend the recently published book by Dr Anthea Jeffrey, 'The People's War', for you to understand how even the media in South Africa caved down under the pressure. Read what Mr Thami Mazwai said about the enormous pressure that was exerted on the media by the ruling Party to toe the line. Positions of leadership are never for the faint-hearted. Do not elect cowards who will turn out to be weathercocks depending on which way the political wind blows.

The reason why I have survived to this day is because I was not a media creation. While I respect the fourth estate as a necessity in any democracy, including our own, I have never been influenced to do the bidding of anyone trying to persuade me to abandon my principles. 

This is a difficult road to follow. Populism is the latest game in town in South Africa, and that is a path I never tried to follow. I hope that as young lions of the IFP you can feel proud of that as your legacy.

Leaders should not be elected or supported merely because of the way they look. I know that there is a temptation to think of supporting a candidate because of their physiognomy. To also be good looking can only be a bonanza. People should be supported for what they stand for.  Solid leadership means that a leader of integrity must sometimes swim against the current, if he or she has convictions.

At the height of Nazism in Germany, when the majority of the people supported the ideology of Nazism, there were voices of integrity such as Pastor Niemoller and Bonhoffer. They were literally out of step with a battalion and yet we now know that they were right. Their numbers did not matter when it came to what was ultimately the truth; that the German nation was wrong in supporting and espousing Nazism.

What you do now as young revolutionaries is very important, because what you do now will shape your own future. I recall in this connection that Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe was our champion in the Fort Hare branch of the Youth League. The 1960 Sharpeville milestone, a turning point in the history of South Africa, was a result of his leadership. I hope that you will be careful with the kind of people to whom you entrust your future, for your future will be dictated by what you do now as young revolutionaries. And I must stress that our ability to distinguish between true bravery and false bravado is important. Don't be attracted only by the ability to spit fire.  Carefully examine what is behind that flame of fiery utterance.

I also wish to make the point that, in a democracy, people are expected to disagree without being disagreeable. One thing which I can only think God gave me is that I have never descended to the level of hating those who disagree with me. I do not even regard the leaders of the Party which has been in conflict with mine as enemies. I say this notwithstanding the loss of lives that took place between us. I say, we are just adversaries. And if I can say that about political opponents, how can people in the same party regard each other as enemies? Disagreement should not amount to animosity, particularly between members of the same party.

In debating issues, we need more light than heat. One's contributions are not judged on the basis of the extent to which they are acerbic. I remember some of the warnings of Professor D.D.T. Jabavu, whom we affectionately called 'Jili' at Fort Hare University. At the time I did not quite understand some of the things he said on graduation day.  He warned us that we must be careful of 'a cipher who has no hope of ever becoming a digit'! Although we were amused by his style of speaking as students and paid less attention to the content of what he said, later in life I have learnt to understand what he meant.

I remember verbatim one line of his graduation address. He said: 

"Refrain from cheap platform tactics and from verbose press effusions!" He would then pause, after making these statements, and we as students would then shout: "Jili!" But as I grew older I learnt and identified the kind of characters that he was referring to when Professor Jabavu made those memorable statements. I have learnt that they were more than a joke, as we treated them at the time he addressed us. So, in selecting your leaders, avoid such characters when you choose those you want to elect as your leaders.

Regarding the present times, let me also sound this warning. A new world is being shaped through the global depression. A new monetary system will be put in place. New divisions are emerging between technological societies on the one hand and industrialized mass manufacturing countries on the other. New ideas, dimensions and perspectives are emerging within this rapidly and radically changed world. Some of the new ideas are being expressed through the Internet.  Movies, documentaries and E-books distributed through Google Video and You Tube have been downloaded by hundreds of millions of young people worldwide and are creating a new sense of global awareness of the challenge that your generation will have to face in making this a better world.

In order to change the world for the better, your generation must study and understand not only the economic dynamics, but also how the monetary system works and how money is manipulated. Because, in the end, each and every one of you and each country or nation of the world will either be freed or enslaved by means of money and on the strength of money. Today's chains of slavery are forged in banknotes.

The primary responsibility of a revolutionary is to gain a level of awareness above that of the rest of society and, from that higher ground, exercise a role of leadership which may slowly move the whole of society towards its liberation. As part of this greater awareness, all of you must realize the full measure of your present predicament, which is huge. Your survival and success in life will depend on your competing not only with your fellow students, not only with your age group and peers within South Africa, but with anyone else, anywhere else in the world.

Whether those of you who, in this institution, are now studying Software Development will be able to get a job once you graduate, will depend on your capacity to compete not only with your colleagues in South Africa but with people of any age, anywhere in the global village. And it may just be the case that a much older person in India may get the job which would have enabled you and your family to put daily bread on the table. The challenges of living and competing in a global village are enormous and frightening. The burden is on you, right here and right now.

As a revolutionary avant garde, where are you to focus your political attention? As a party we have the values and the direction. Look for and expose corruption, mismanagement and wastage of public money.  Whenever you see public money being wasted, that is your money that they are using. Not the money you have now, but that which you will earn in the future. When corruption and inefficiency siphon billions of Rand out of the fiscus' coffers, they are increasing the debt that your future labour and taxation will need to pay off.

SADESMO must spread within the students' movement a new sense of militancy based on enhanced vigilance against corruption, inefficiency and utter stupidity within Government. The policy directions of Government are often noble and I share many of them. However, the gap between policy and reality, between intention and realisation, and between words and actions is becoming wider and wider by the day. It is in this respect that SADESMO must identify shortcomings and hold the Government and politicians accountable by raising its accusatory finger and charging those who are not doing enough with the high crime of jeopardizing your future.

It is a hard role to play. It is a difficult revolution to pursue. It is a demanding commitment. But this is the legacy which I bequeath on you as the future of the Party I founded. As a closing remark, I wish you to ponder very seriously my own legacy and to whom it belongs. My legacy is a great asset, but it is not mine. It will do no good to me or have any value for me once I am in the grave. My legacy will only have value as it will be used by all of you as a source of inspiration, guidance and renewal of ideas and spirit. Therefore, my legacy is indeed not mine, but yours. Because it is yours, I urge you to consider very carefully what you are going to do with it and how you are treating it. I speak of it because it too is part of your future and I do not wish it to be diminished or damaged.

Whatever is now done to tarnish and undermine my legacy takes something away from you and the future generations, not from me. Do not let anyone do that to you for their own selfish purposes or political ambition. Defend your own inheritance and let no one manipulate you into giving away your birthright.

The IFP belongs to its future. From the past, the IFP carries into the future a legacy which is now more relevant than ever. We are an avant garde of people with integrity; leaders with backbone and revolutionaries with a dream. The size of our Party does not matter and does not determine the importance of our role. As an avant garde, it is the strength of our ideas, courage and commitment which determines our worth and the importance of our role in society.

Embrace this role with pride. Be proud to be a member of SADESMO and instill the same pride in the rest of the student body. For SADESMO must become the cool place for intelligent, committed young people to exercise a role of leadership to save your future, which is otherwise in great jeopardy.

I encourage you, I dare you, I beg you to take up and embrace this challenge, not for my sake, but for your own.

May God bless you.