NATIONAL HERITAGE DAY CELEBRATION RECLAIMING, RESTORING AND CELEBRATING OUR LIVING HERITAGE MESSAGE OF SUPPORT BY PRINCE MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI MP PRESIDENT OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY Sisa Dukashe Stadium, Eastern Cape: 24 September 2013 For almost twenty years, South Africans have been free to celebrate our identity, culture and heritage, knowing that our Constitution enshrines the principle of equality. No one culture has more validity than another. No one group dominates another. Our diversity has indeed become our strength. Today, the IFP stands in solidarity with all South Africans as we celebrate Heritage Day. Today is about much more than braai-ing. We should not diminish the value of what we celebrate. Each of us has a sense of who we are and where we belong within our society. We identify with a particular group and subscribe to a particular set of values. But overarching all of this is our shared identity as South Africans. As a nation, we also have a shared heritage. That is the heritage born of struggle for freedom and liberty. Our inheritance from the generations of freedom fighters that went before is the freedom to exercise the rights of citizenship. The freedom to vote. The freedom to get involved. The freedom to contribute. With these rights and freedoms, comes the possibility of social cohesion, harmony and unity. On Heritage Day 2013, we must perhaps ask ourselves whether we are being good custodians of our shared inheritance. Are we exercising our freedoms? Are we building harmony and social cohesion? Or are we in danger of becoming a fractured society? This year, the chosen theme for Heritage Month, "Reclaiming, Restoring and Celebrating Our Living Heritage", suggests to us that something has been lost or damaged, that needs to be restored. Nineteen years of democracy have restored to us the dignity of our various cultural identities. That is not what has been lost. What we are, in fact, in danger of losing, in terms of our inheritance, is the possibility of social cohesion, harmony and unity. The threat has not come from outside. It has not come from political oppression or an ideological clash. Instead, the threat has come from within. It has come from the dissolution of strongly held values, such as the inherent dignity of women, the innocence of children and the inviolable right to life. Thus even in this moment of celebration, we must consider the health of our nation. Why, after strides have been made to bring down the crime rate, are more people being raped and murdered today in South Africa than almost anywhere else in the world? Why has the incidence of attempted murder increased? And why is the worst and most prolific violence within our own homes? Our heritage is threatened. From the struggle of our parents, our grandparents and great-grandparents, we inherited the possibility of social cohesion. Let us reclaim and restore that heritage by recommitting to a set of shared values. Only then will we move out from under the shadow of fear, distrust and division, and be able to truly celebrate our living heritage. The IFP is committed to restoring values in South Africa. We ask South Africans to join hands with us in this act of patriotism. For love of country, let us restore what has been lost. I thank you.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 07:26:30 +0000
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