A ceremony like this has the taste of a bittersweet moment. It is a bitter moment, because we need to bid farewell to somebody like Bishop Anthony Mdletshe, who has served us so well and for so long. It is a sweet moment, because we have the opportunity of paying tribute to someone who was the pastor of our flock and has given to all of us with so much dedication and affection. It is often said that the mission of a pastor of souls, like Bishop Anthony Mdletshe, is like a one-way street, in which all the attention, care, affection and dedication is given by the pastor to his flock. One does not expect the flock to reciprocate. This is indeed one of the great mysteries of our faith, which calls upon extraordinary people to perform the work of God with abnegation, a sense of self-sacrifice, and in a context in which one gives continuously to others, without expecting anything in return.

However, there are special moments, such as this one, in which those who have benefitted for so long, from the gifts of those who have committed their lives to performing the work of God on earth, have the rare opportunity of reciprocating the kind sentiments that pastors of souls, like Bishop Anthony Mdletshe, have showered on all of us for so many years. Therefore, it is proper and fitting that on this occasion, we express our heartfelt thanks to our Bishop for his many years of service, and we find ways and means to express and signify to him the full measure of our love and admiration. He has been an important part of our lives, and a great leader in our community.

He has served our community at an extraordinary time of our history. This must have been one of the most difficult times for anyone to be a spiritual leader. In fact, I do not think that any period of history may recall such rapid change having taken place in our land, and it is unlikely that a similar situation will present itself in the future. Times of change are exciting times, which offer new opportunities, and are often productive of positive transformation and great improvements. However, times of change are also times of great individual and collegial confusion and anxiety. Confusion and anxiety are usual by-products of change, and they grow exponentially with the rate at which change takes place. For this reason, during periods of rapid change, it is essential that spiritual and religious leadership be available to all of us. It is in times of change that there is greater need for spiritual leadership, and yet those are the very times in which it becomes more difficult for anyone to impart onto others, spiritual and religious leadership.

For some reason, during rapidly changing times, because of the very nature of confusion, people reject that which they need the most, and run away from spiritual leadership and religion. For this reason, we must express a special note of appreciation for Bishop Anthony Mdletshe, to have held our community and church together during such a stormy period, sailing our vessel through such stormy waters and into a safe harbour. Over and again, Bishop Anthony Mdletshe has given guidance to many of our families, assisting them in finding ways and means to draw on the inspiration, mercy and strength of God Almighty, to solve their own problems. Bishop Mdletshe, in his service, has confirmed the importance of a Bishop in the life of the church, and of our community. Having been elected, both by the church and the laity, a Bishop has the right to represent both the church and the community, and expresses the point of fusion between the church and the community, which represents that mystical union which indeed makes the church the community, and the community the church.

This mystery of the union of people with their Bishop begins at the time of the election of the Bishop, and increases, expands and is reinforced through the work that the Bishop performs to bring about the will of God on earth. The Bishop is in fact appointed by the Holy Ghost and, through his actions, lends himself to become an instrument in the hands of God, and therefore, as a servant of God, becomes God's own tool to perform His work on earth. Often, when we elect a Bishop, as church and laity, we feel that we are those who choose who is to be elected. However, as the psalm song tells us "our soul is inspired" in that process, and even though it is us who chooses the Bishop to be elected, our soul inspires us, and through it the Holy Ghost guides our decision-making process. It is for this reason that we kneel before God and pray, to enable our souls to be open to the message of God and receive the Holy Spirit.

However, having attended a number of Elective Assemblies in my lifetime, I know what it means when members of both the House of Clergy and the House of the Laity, gather as an Elective Assembly and they all start singing together, "COME HOLY GHOST OUR SOULS INSPIRE". This means that even though it is them who choose the Bishop to be elected, it is the Holy Ghost which inspires us and which leads us. It is the Holy Ghost which, in other words, guides our souls, to be open to the message of God, as to who is the right person at the particular time who ought to be the Shepherd of God's Flock. Let me illustrate here what I am trying to convey to you as my Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

When the Elective Assembly to elect Bishop Mdletshe met, it was an open secret that he was the much-favoured candidate generally. I had no objection too, if those who were tasked to elect a Bishop for us decided to elect him.  However, when I had made up my mind and that I went along with this general view, one of the delegates to the Elective Assembly approached me to write a recommendation for a candidate that she was going to propose as the candidate for the Bishopric. I told her that I heard from a number of the delegates to the Elective Assembly that Bishop Mdletshe had general support. I, however, could not refuse to write the recommendation for the candidate that she was going to propose, as I had known him for a long time. I therefore made the recommendation as requested by my sister. I was not doing it on the basis of any preference. However, when Bishop Mdletshe was elected I fully supported the decision of the Elective Assembly. I fully accepted that the Holy Ghost that the Elective Assembly had implored to guide them had done so. Throughout his episcopate in this diocese, I have always fully accepted Bishop Mdletshe as my Bishop and pastor and my Shepherd and the Shepherd of the entire flock of Christ in our Diocese.

In this ancient act of genuflection, we humble ourselves to become more than what we are. We kneel before God to be elevated into becoming greater than what we are, by virtue of the inspiration which has descended upon us, and indeed inside us, by the door that we have opened for our consciousness to expand, for our mind to be free, and for our soul to be receptive to the message of the Holy Ghost, and the Divine inspiration, which leads us to the right way. The Divine inspiration operates in ways which are mysterious, which means that at the time we may not recognise the wisdom in what we are doing, and we may even doubt that we have made the right decision. However, as time goes by, one realises that decisions have been made for a purpose, because indeed they were not our decisions, but decisions which are part and parcel of a Divine plan, designed by the great Architect of our lives, the universe and all things of which we are a part. Everything is part and parcel of this unfolding creation, and we are indeed part of a process in which God manifests Himself as the living God, who gives light, hope, purpose and life to creation itself. I have seen this process repeating itself in many of our activities.

As many of you are aware, I have been a layman in the church for several decades. I have attended several assemblies, and served in the Diocese Standing Committee and the Diocesan Trust Board which assisted two Bishops of this Diocese, namely Bishop Thomas Savage and Bishop Alphaeus Zulu. We worked together with these two prior Bishops to ensure that together, we could serve both the Church and the laity. Since then, I could no longer be in the position of helping with those functions as much as I would have wanted to do so, because my time was seized, and taken away by the many other responsibilities that I had to fulfill, not in my own interest, but in the service of the people of our region, the people of our province and the people of South Africa. For me, my life has been an exercise in service in many aspects. I have served when I was assisting the two Bishops and working in the diocese. I have served in my political career, which I have never undertaken for my own benefit, and to which I have dedicated my life, and for which I have endured untold sacrifices.

I have served when I have acted on behalf of our nation, as the Traditional Prime Minister of the Zulu Kingdom. My entire life has been one of service, and I have long abandoned any form of self-gratification, or ambition to have no other object than serving. I feel that this is an important element, which emerges from the traditions of our church, which I have learnt through the work in the diocese. I say this, because I feel that it is a responsibility of all the members of our community to assist our Bishop. It is on occasions such as this one, that we must pause and reflect on the fact that we have not done enough to assist our Bishop, while we have expected so much from him. The life of a Bishop is not easy, and very seldom is there anyone there to assist them, yet they are there to always assist anyone else with their own difficulties. I remember how the lives of Bishop Alphaeus Zulu and Bishop Lawrence Zulu had their own difficulties. Therefore, as a diocese, we need to perform some introspection to find our own guidance from within ourselves, and to understand how it is our responsibility to support a Bishop. In so doing, we ourselves would be performing some of the work that God expects of us.

It is not appropriate for people within a diocese to snipe at a Bishop and criticize his work, without understanding the many grave difficulties that he encounters, especially at critical times such as ours, which are confused by rapid change and are contaminated by widespread anxiety for the many problems of our society and within our families. In politics I have grown used to people attacking others for no reason, and to the characteristics of an environment characterized by vilification, lies and constant undermining of one another. Much more could be achieved in politics if people were to work together, but, characterized as it is by greed and ambition, politics is unfortunately a field of human endeavours in which harmony, goodwill and cooperation will never fully triumph. However, when we come together as children of God to perform the work of God on earth, as the Church, which is God's people, we should not act as people do in the field of politics. By performing the work of God on earth, we should not undermine one another, but indeed constantly support one another, and all of us should be supportive of our Bishop. The flock should support its pastor, as much as the pastor is to lead the flock. I think that at times of this nature, we should have the courage of admitting that there has not been enough reciprocation from the diocese, and that not enough support has given from the flock to our pastors. I mean our pastors and this may include Bishop Mdletshe.

We must ensure that whatever divisions take place, prior to the election of a Bishop, do not continue into the time after his election. Once a Bishop is elected, the mystery of the will of God works through him and the community, and the diocese are bound to close ranks to act in absolute unity of intent, harmony, coordination and mutual support. We must therefore ensure that in respect of the election of the new Bishop, there are none of any such divisions, and that the new Bishop is recognised by everyone as the spiritual guide of our community, and the man chosen by God to perform His work on earth. We must be open to the gifts that God brings us, and receptive to the way God Almighty chooses to deliver them. Where we have failed you Father as our Shepherd, do forgive us. We know that we already have your absolution.

We need to praise Bishop Anthony Mdletshe for the great gift he has given to us. I always remember how this community has been enormously improved by what Bishop Thomas Savage, Bishop Alphaeus Zulu and Bishop Lawrence Zulu did for us. As in respect of our Kings, each Bishop represents a stage of collective life. They embody the fears, needs, aspirations, wants and dreams of a community. They represent who we are at any given time. Therefore, by remembering our Bishops, as we do when we remember our Kings, effectively we remember a season of our own lives. We must ensure that these seasons are preserved forever in our collective memory, which requires for us to preserve and celebrate the memory of what has been done by each of our Bishops. We will remember the last few years of his Episcopate as the age of Bishop Anthony Mdletshe, an age characterized by great confusion and anxiety, tempered as it was by great religious leadership and inspired spirituality.

I have no doubt in my mind, that as we look back at the years in which Bishop Anthony Mdletshe has served our community, all of us will gain a much greater appreciation of the contribution he made, as well as the difficulties he had to encounter, to perform his role. Therefore, I almost feel that a word of thank-you and appreciation, which we are now expressing on this occasion, are going to be surpassed in intensity and tones by those that people will express in the future, when they will have a better perspective of how important Bishop Anthony Mdletshe has been for all of us. My words of thanks to him are as intense and profound as I can make them. I hope that the age of retirement will offer him the opportunity to do the type of things he was not able to do, when he served our communities. I know how precious those things are, because I myself have never been able to do them. I have never had the opportunity of retiring, and in a way it seems as if I will never retire. I have worked all my life, without any opportunity of personal holidays, or personal vacation, and I am very committed to our community, and I shall undoubtedly continue with what I am doing without retiring, for as long as my body will support my efforts, and God Almighty will support my strength and the Holy Spirit inspire my wisdom.

We know that the Bishop would not have achieved what he did if he did not have such a gifted lady as his lifelong partner and companion. We thank Mrs Mdletshe for all she has been to us.

On behalf of the Diocese may God bless and protect Bishop Mdletshe and Mrs Mdletshe, and preserve them for many years.