Leaders call for a united nation
Deputy President Mabuza affirms nation is on the right path
Leaders of political parties normally disagree about the dayto-day running of the nation – yet one thread of each diverse message called for a united South Africa on Monday.
In Kokstad, acting president David Mabuza told scores of residents at the national government’s celebrations that unity was paramount but expropriation of land was equally important, saying it would be an injustice to turn a blind eye to the subject.
At the provincial celebrations in Mthatha, premier Phumulo Masualle conceded that the renaming of some places was not happening fast enough.
In East London, EFF national chair Dali Mpofu led party members on a “release AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo” march to the West Bank prison, where he is currently serving his 12-year sentence.
In Ngcobo, DA provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga blasted the ANC-led government, saying that it had failed residents.
Deputy president David Mabuza, delivering a national Heritage Day speech in Kokstad on Monday, urged people to work towards unity.
“This is unity in diversity, unity in our families, unity in our communities, unity in our nation and unity in our politics across all lines. As it is written in our Seal of State and Coat of Arms, written in the Khoisan language of the /Xam people, we have to tell you – diverse people unite!
“For we are meeting at a time in our history, when the divisions of our past, when our heightened sense of retreat to the past, threatens national unity,” said Mabuza.
He added: “Even though there is no need for divisions, for if we hold our hands together in addressing the imbalances of the past, we are guaranteeing future generations a prosperous South Africa worthy of inheritance. And so we are bound by human weakness to that which emphasises difference instead of common nationhood.”
He said that divisions are sewn in times of hopelessness. “We know that where there is no unity, we seek safety amongst the like-minded, instead of pursuing unity even with those with whom we differ,” he said.
He said it was understandable that human beings were prone, in times of hardship and difficult debates about land reform, to retreat easily into narrow nationalist, racial and ethnic enclaves.
“However, I stand in front of you on this day to state with conviction that this path we have chosen is the correct one. It is the path that will unite our nation,” said deputy president Mabuza, addressing those gathered at the Riverview Stadium in Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal.
Earlier on Monday, Mabuza, accompanied by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Willies Mchunu, Greater Kokstad Municipality mayor Bheki Mtolo and Harry Gwala district mayor Mluleki Ndobe, honoured great Griqua leader Adam Kok III by renaming the Greater Kokstad municipal building after him, as well as unveiling his statue.
He said: “We have come to pay tribute to all those who came before us in making a South Africa of our dreams that is united in diversity. We come to celebrate our heritage and to wallow in this spring of our diversity with a single objective of raising the sun of hope that unity, despite our differences, is our defining strength”.
Mabuza told the crowd to consider models to redress land dispossession and how to make meaningful land reform.