JOINT SITTING TO MARK FORMER PRESIDENT
MR NELSON MANDELA'S 90TH BIRTHDAY
Speech by Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP
President of the Inkatha Freedom Party
|
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY : 27th June 2008 Madam Speaker: It is my honour to pay tribute to Mr Nelson Mandela at this special sitting to celebrate his 90th birthday. I first met Madiba over half-a-century ago when he was a young lawyer with Mandela and Tambo in downtown Johannesburg in the early 1950s when we were both young men. In fact we were such good friends that he wound up my father-in-law's estate. My first impression of him was of a thrusting man; a young man in a hurry. That never changed with the role history cast him. Nor has the dignified bearing he has maintained for his entire life. It is difficult to say if I thought that he seemed destined to lead the country at the time. There was a crop of impressive young leaders in the ANC at the time, but it was clear to all of us that this man was destined for a leadership role. Our friendship has always been characterised by warmth, affection and, I believe, mutual respect. This was maintained whilst I served as Madiba's Minister of Home Affairs in his one-term administration. Our former President also had, to use a phrase I would normally associate with my grandchildren, a "wicked" sense of humour! We have all been depressed with the goings on in Zimbabwe. I remember with amusement on one occasion, when I was with Madiba at a SADC Conference in Mauritius, that he had to consult other SADC leaders about the crisis in Lesotho. For some reason – I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions - Madiba had not yet spoken to the Zimbabwean President. Now, I was just about to be appointed Acting President because the then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, I recall, was going to Malaysia. Madiba looked at his watch and fixed me with that look: "Shenge, it has just gone 12 o'clock so you are Acting President. You speak to Mugabe!" On a more sober note, Honourable Members will know that Madiba and I at times differed on the means but never once on the destination of this great country. I am proud of our partnership in promoting peace and reconciliation in South Africa. As a father figure to our nation, he has been simply marvellous: pure gold. He is still playing that role today and I hope that he and Graça Machel are having some well deserved time together in London this week. Within the struggle, consensus was the rarest commodity. Fortunately for the main players, many of whom are here today, consensus covered the most important issue: apartheid had to go. We only ever differed on how to kill the wicked beast. In this regard, Madiba paid the ultimate sacrifice. He spent 27 years in prison in defiance of apartheid. Just as no one can give all those seemingly lost years back to him or, as is often forgotten, his family, no one can ignore or forget the inherent significance of such a sacrifice. Madiba captured the imagination of the Western media establishment and beyond. The worldwide appreciation for Madiba's sacrifice earned him his iconic status which he, in turn, has used to further the liberation claims of his people. Most profoundly, Madiba taught us that ultimate liberation can only be accomplished by liberating the oppressed as well as the oppressor. Is there not a hint there, amongst the sometimes shrill and contradictory calls for action, for how Zimbabwe could find the right path again? I think there might be. Honourable Members, particularly those who served in first parliament when Madiba was President, will remember that Madiba was a consummate politician to his fingertips. He possesses a prosecuting intellect and a steely determination to pursue his goals. Today, Madiba, in the words of Byron soars "above this little scene of things". Madiba somehow transcended the limitations of race, gender and other social economic markers. He saw us all as South Africans first. This was especially true in the fight against HIV/Aids. A few hours after Madiba announced that his son had died of HIV/Aids in January 2005, I commiserated with him on the telephone having lost two children myself the previous year. There was not a hint of self-pity in his announcement, but only a heartfelt desire to help break the stigma and silence surrounding this disease. This was classical Mandela: country before self. And that is how the country and the entire world know him. So today we salute an icon on his 90th birthday. We raise our hands to Tata Madiba and simply say thank you for what you mean to all of us. For more information: |