REMARKS BY MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI, MP,
 MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS, AND
PRESIDENT OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY

It gives me great pleasure to preside over the presentation of the statue of Lord Ganesh to this Isipingo Cultural Centre. This is a moment of great importance for the whole of the Hindu community. Because of this statue devoted members of the Hindu community will have an additional place where they can worship and receive the blessings of Lord Ganesh. 

I firmly believe that the activity of worshiping and being devoted to the spiritual forces of harmony, love, upliftment and redemption is what enables men and women to constantly improve upon themselves and their nature and to transcend and overcome their conditions of life. The expression of our religiosity through worshiping and religion enables each of us to reach out for the best of what we could be.

For this reason, I feel that the opening of this additional shrine of devotion has importance which goes beyond the Hindu community and is, indeed, of great relevance for the whole of our province. A stronger presence of the spiritual positive energy of Hinduism as it emanates from this shrine will, undoubtedly, have a much needed positive effect throughout our province. There is a great deal of wisdom, peace and harmony in the worshiping of Lord Ganesh. I believe that we need to intensify and strengthen the feelings of religiosity which bind our people in this province, and we must do so across existing religious divides and denominations. The roots of religious devotion run deep in the most positive part of human collective consciousness and from them the expression of mankind's eternal quest for improvement rightly stems.

The expressions of the religious aspects of human nature have historically given rise to different branches and forms of expression and, yet, comes from the same roots and feeds out of the same basic human needs and aspirations. To me, the great differentiations between all types of religions and religious expressions is between that which highlights and promotes love and harmony on the one hand and, on the other hand, that which dwells in hatred, conflict and divisions. The essence of religiosity ought to be harmony, wisdom, love and unity. These values are expressed in an excellent form in all that which Lord Ganesh stands for. Indeed, when such values are expressed in their most excellent form, all divisions between religious expressions disappear in a sublime synthesis which reconciles and reunites that which has been artificially divided, which is the inexpressible, indescribable, undividable and all encompassing mystery and blessing of the Divinity.

There are deep-rooted and vast affinities between the Hindu and Zulu sense of religiosity, which proves how they are both rooted in the shared pool of religious consciousness. Hindu and Zulu culture share many rituals, offerings and traditions, which is a strong bonding factor amongst the people of this province. I know that the similarities between Hindu and Zulu culture have become the object of academic investigation and I am informed that Mr A Hindu, the Director of the Arts and Documentation Centre even achieved his Master's degree in styling the similarities between Hindu and Zulu marriages. I am particularly pleased with this type of academic pursuits which I think are an essential part of our African renaissance.

In fact, in my opinion, the main thrust of our African renaissance is about emphasizing the value of our historical heritage in respect of our sense of religiosity, wisdom and spiritual sensibility far beyond any action, ritual, practice or even tradition which embody them. There is no doubt that our African renaissance must be about moving forward rather than backward and that our rituals, practices and traditions are subject to the eternal law of change and progress which has characterized human evolution since the beginning of recorded history. 

However, this type of change should not undermine what is behind, which is the eternal sense of religiosity, spiritual wonder and worship which arises out of the appreciation of the intangible aspects of the human experience. Throughout the world these spiritual values which have been pushed into corners by religious dogmas and religious intolerance are now coming to the fore in what is, indeed, an unprecedented age of global spiritual and religious renewal.

For this reason, it is for me, a source of personal satisfaction to be with you today and to worship with you today. There is so much one can learn by worshiping with others along different lines of religious experience. As I worship with my Hindu brothers and sisters I can feel how the deep roots of Indian and Zulu cultures really stem out of the same ground. We feel very similarly and we must be very similar over and above all the differentiation that history and society has placed upon us. Together our people should become the engine of the type of spiritual renewal which South Africa so desperately needs if it is to achieve the long sought after and much talked about moral regeneration of our communities.

I believe that in worshiping Lord Ganesh there is a lot to be learnt towards that which is needed for the moral regeneration of South Africa. Zulus and Hindus have always shared the notion of a living harmony amongst all the creatures of the universe and the spiritual forces which underpin their existence. I believe in the notion of a living creation which unfolds in its wonder and beauty through our own existence, and in which we all participate as living expressions and manifestations of the divine which is in us and of the divine embodied in the creation. We need to seek this type of harmony amongst all the people of our province and all the people of South Africa, because only through the unity of all of us will our country succeed. Learning the value of the everlasting unity is that which signifies victory over evil, for evil dwells in conflicts and separations. The day of Diwali is for me the final celebration of unity and represents the final goal towards which the people of South Africa should strive to achieve. Let us collectively worship shri Ganesh-Bappa for his blessings and for the wisdom which may lead us to pursue this type of unity and harmony. 

There is also a lot we can learn from Lord Ganesh at a very practical level, which also coincides with our own Zulu understanding of the symbolism of life. In fact, the icon of the elephant has been very important throughout Zulu history and tradition, which accounts for the fact that I chose it as the emblem of my own political party. The elephant's small eyes, as like those of Lord Ganesh, signify the capacity to observe and appreciate the smallest details, while his large ears are emblematic of his capacity to listen to everything and become the very consciousness of the world. His wide forehead expresses the wisdom required to maintain such great knowledge and his big stomach symbolises what it takes to digest and store all that which one has heard, known and understood. His long trunk is what enables him to smell what is to come, ahead of it being there, and signifies the gift of clairvoyance of those who partake in the mystery of divinity.

Finally, his small and almost invisible mouth signifies the wisdom of silence and the willingness to speak with a loud voice when appropriate and required. All these elements are what is required from a successful and wise individual life. They represent the challenge of growing wise and living a morally successful and ethically fulfilled life.

For these and many other reasons I am delighted that this statue of Lord Ganesh now blesses this shrine. There are only two of such statues in South Africa and we all appreciate the efforts made by my brother Janak Parekh, who is the one who has been instrumental in getting the Ganesh to its rightful place, even though, in his natural and noble humility does not wish to be acknowledged for his efforts. I am sure that he will continue to provide his tireless efforts to promote the development of further initiatives of this type and assist his community.

Today, we are at the commencement of a new cycle. The beginning of a new centre of opportunity for worshiping is always the beginning of a new cycle.