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Pretoria: Thursday, 15 December 2011
Respected Leaders of the various faith communities
Honourable Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Mr Sputla Ramakgopa
His Excellency, the President of the Republic of South Africa,
Mr Jacob Zuma
Honourable Adv George Bizos
Honourable Minister for Correctional Services, Ms Nosiviwe
Mapisa-Nqakula, MP
Honourable Deputy Minister for Correctional Services, Adv Ngoako
Ramathlodi, MP
Honourable Commissioner for Correctional Services, Mr Tom Moyane
Secretary-General of the ANC, Mr Gwede Mantashe
Leader of the PAC, Mr Letlapa Mphahlele, MP
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen
It is with great humility that I stand here this morning to make
these brief remarks on behalf of the Multi-party Chief Whips
Forum in the National Assembly of Parliament, on this historic
occasion of the inauguration of the first phase of the restored
Gallows Memorial.
In its 1989 report “When the State Kills …..The Death Penalty v
Human Rights”, Amnesty International pre-empted “In the same era
that humanity reaches into space, countless people are being
shot, gassed and hanged by their own governments. Judicial
killing lingers on as a state sanctioned practice, violating the
most fundamental human rights”.
When the death penalty was constitutionally outlawed and
abolished in South Africa in June 1995, it brought emotional
relief to the relatives and friends of those prisoners who were
on death row waiting to hang. Obviously, it must have brought
also feelings of dismay and disappointment to those proponents
of capital punishment, who believed that the death penalty could
sooth desires for revenge and at the same be a deterrent against
serious crimes, and a sense of victory for the human rights
campaigners the world over. Because both common law crime
prisoners and political prisoners were hanged in this place,
this restoration therefore needs to be influenced and the
momentum sustained largely by historical, political, moral and
ethical considerations put together. Hence it becomes
prudent for us, like those of the early Church who faced
persecution for their religious belief and discipleship, who
believed that the blood of the martyrs was the root of the
Church, to continue to uphold the universal truth that the
blood, sweat and tears of the freedom fighters have firmly
anchored the centre upon which the great edifice of freedom,
justice, liberty and human rights has been built. We must
therefore find it a service full of honour to the people of
South Africa for the President of the Republic of South Africa,
Jacob Zuma and the Minister of Correctional Services, Nosiviwe
Mapisa-Nqakula to revive not only structurally but also in the
mind of all the citizenry, the horrific memories of this place,
so that from this moment on they are restored with renewed
spirit of patriotism in the soul of the nation. This occasion
must engrave the spirit of forgiveness and hope also in hearts
of all the surviving family members whose loved ones had their
precious lives ended tragically at the end of the rope, woven by
a system so brutal.
In the book of photography titled “Without Sanctuary”,
Congressman John Lewis, on seeing the horrifying photographs of
wanton brutal hangings and burning of the African Americans
during the height of Civil Rights Movement, asked this question
“what is in the human psyche that would have a person to commit
such acts of violence?”
However, in the face of an avalanche of most serious crimes of
murder and rape, compounded by the growing moral and political
decadence, the debate around whether capital punishment should
be reinstated has surfaced very strongly in recent times. Others
hope that the answer rests with the law enforcement agencies of
the state assisted by every citizen to make South Africa a
secure and safe place for all to live in.
Thank You. |
