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REVIVAL AND UNITY CONFERENCE AT MOTSWEDI COMMUNITY HALL ON THE 8TH DECEMBER 2018

REVIVAL AND UNITY CONFERENCE AT MOTSWEDI COMMUNITY HALL ON THE 8TH DECEMBER 2018

PRESENTED BY THE PARTY PRESIDENT: HON MODIRI SEHUME

 

The Deputy President of the United Christian Democratic Party, Mme Marabutse

The Chairperson of the Party, Pastor Matebane, the Deputy Chairperson, Rre Mhatlhe

The Secretary General, Mme Mediro, the Deputy Secretary General, Mme Disetlhe

The Party Treasurer, Rre Mooki

Members of the Mangope family present

The United Christian Democratic Party Youth League Leadership present

The Party Womens League present

The former President of the Party, Mr Sipho Mfundisi

The former National Executive Committee members of the Party

The Ministers Fraternity present today

The Party Councillors, representing the Party in various Municipal Council present today

The Provincial and Regional Leadership collective of the Party present

Party Elders present

Beloved Members of the United Christian Democratic Party

Bagaetsho, Dumelang!!!

Master of Ceremonies, let me take this opportunity to also express our pride and excitement in the Madiba Centennary celebrations. It presents a unique opportunity for our people and those around the world to reflect on Madiba’s life and times and to promote his legacy. A well-deserved countrywide celebration and an important opportunity to collectively introspect. We stand by the millions of our people in our pledge to strive to be better citizens for the sake of the future generations, and in celebration of Madiba’s exemplary life. He remains an icon to us and we shall remain forever indebted to him. This is a period when men and women of integrity should take centre stage. Let us make good morals, honesty and humility fashionable, and with equal energy let us condemn corruption, tribalism, get rich quick tendencies and patronage. We should do this in honour of the first black president of our republic, South Africa.May the soul of Dr Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela rest in ever lasting peace.

Master of Ceremonies, it is an honour to be part of this historic event, this day is a product of one of the first decisions the current National Executive Committee took when it assumed leadership of the Party. We took the decision to commence with a tedious, difficult and courageous process of uniting the Party. It indeed requires courage to commence with a complex task of this nature. The difficulty starts with an ability to can introspect and identify those challenges that must be taken head on. This process of unity, Master of Ceremonies, requires a sober minded and singular determination to act beyond our personal interests and petty political objectives. A task of this magnitude can only be achieved by a sincere and true affection to the Party.

 

 

It requires a mind-set that can comprehend the potential of this Party. The knowledge that this country, our beloved country South Africa needs a Party of the calibre, with the track record and the humility that has shaped the United Christian Democratic Party since its inception more than 45 years ago.

The road has not been easy, but the Party ethos, the internal Party cultures must remain intact, if we are to succeed in our unity project. We must at all times strive to protect these qualities that set us apart from the rest of other political parties, and yes we too  have have challenges as a Party. Fortunately, challenges can be overcome, all that is required of us is to collectively own up to our challenges, face them in order to can solve them. To seek to get spin doctors would be a waste of time, to be in denial would be suicidal, as has been clear with some of the political parties around that invested so much in spin doctoring, instead of facing the truth.

You do not throw money at Party internal challenges, you openly and genuinely discuss them with a view to resolve them. In this regard, Master of ceremonies, it is not a problem that we too have challenges, for we are bound to overcome them. And therefore it is my humble plea to all of us, to protect the Party.

On a different note, Master of Ceremonies, we are gathered here to revive and renew our Party, the United Christian Democratic Party, and the energy and the optimism we are experiencing is humbling. We are getting calls throughout the country, that our message is being received. Word of mouth, has taken precedence, as more and more people receive the good news that the Party is being revived. Hundreds of thousands of our people are gearing themselves to take part in the re building of our Party, the fight is on, we are marching forward.

 Our determination has doubled since that historic day on the 29th of September 2018, at the Party Federal Congress when our people across the five provinces, in unison sang the song, ‘’Mowa wa ka ore eya!’’ That day the true custodians of the Party, its membership took charge of their Party, and I hope the current National Executive Committee and all the party leadership structures will cherish and learn from that day as I did.

Master of Ceremonies, on behalf of the hundreds of thousands if not millions of our people, allow me to take this opportunity to declare that our Party is rising again. The United Christian Democratic Party is back.  There is no shame in us, we are not shaken and our determination is founded on practical hardships that we see our people experience on a daily basis. Our Country is in shambles and the future is bleak. We are determined more than ever to play a role in the direction this country is going to be taking. Our position is clear, COUNT US IN. ACKNOWLEDGE US OR IGNORE US AT YOUR PERIL.

 

We are 25 years behind schedule, and therefore, we will double our efforts to ensure prosperity to our people. Fellow United Democrats, we have a lot of work before us, and we must ready ourselves to the difficult task ahead. The good thing is that this Party was once a government. This party was not too long ago, a ruling party. In fact I can state without fear of any contradiction, that we have a record of rolling out the most comprehensive infrastructural development, unmatched even post the democratic dispensation.

Rona re kile ra nna puso e morafe o kileng wa ipela ka yone, re kile ra lwantsha bohuma, ra fetola dikgwa go nna metseditoropo, ra tlhasela lehuma, thuto ya nna mantletsengtletse. Lekoko le kile la tlisa boipelo mo bathong. We founded some of the most advanced and broad based economic empowerment initiatives, even this government can only dream of. I am reminded of Yabeng Investment Holdings, Sun Bop, Bophuthatswana Transport Holdings (BTH), Bophuthatswana Building Society, Sefalana Employee Benefits Organisation to think of a few. We pioneered some of the most innovative projects that left the rest of Southern Africa in awe, I speak of the private public partnerships with Siemens during the communications revolution of the eighties, the Bop Broadcasting Corporation with satellite innovations even the SABC cannot copy almost 35 years later, the concept of the Manpower Centres, Mmabana Cultural Centres of Excellence, the concept of recreational education through EDUTEL and many other innovations ahead of their times.

Our best weapon against Apartheid, against imperialism was to develop and educate a black child like no other. We negated the liberal notion that nothing progressive can be achieved without the assistance or guidance of a white man. That is the reason, the founding father of this Party, Dr Lucas Manyane Mangope was hated by some of the white liberals locally and abroad. He was the reason no man could say a black child was inferior.

He taught us that no amount of sloganeering will better the lives of the people, that a better life can only be achieved through prudence, hard work, selflessness, quality education and most importantly an environment that is characterised by law and order. Without these ingredients, any nation is doomed to fail. Unless and until the ruling elites actualises these principles, dear South Africans, we shall continue to falter from one crisis to the other, prosperity shall continue to evade us.

Dr Lucas Manyane Mangope operating within the political party that I proudly lead today demonstrated black excellence. He, together with his collective re defined the destiny of the black child, and contrary to popular propaganda, his impact was felt even beyond the confines of a cruel and limiting homeland system. I will say it again and again and again, WE MUST READY OURSELVES AS A PARTY, NOW, OUR PEOPLE ARE YEARNING FOR OUR EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP. NO ONE MUST DETER US.

Master of ceremonies we must challenge the madness that has engulfed our beloved country under the incompetence of the ruling elites, all in the name of preserving tribalism, populism, patronage, corruption and at times shameless looting of the limited resources meant to provide essential services to our people.

South Africa deserves better. Future generations deserve to inherit a better society, a better country. Our youth deserves better education, they have a God given right to be brought up in drug free communities. Children have a right to be children, to make mistakes and to learn from those mistakes. The amount of drugs in our communities robs our children of their God given right to learn from their mistakes, all because we have a government that cannot prioritise societal interests. This is not acceptable.

The law enforcement agencies, simply put, are overwhelmed by the extent of crime within our borders. Promotions in the public sector are no longer based on merit; as a result the snow ball effect of incompetence in the public sector is robbing us of essential service delivery. National debt is ballooning by the day, the gap between the rich and poor is widening at an alarming rate and the prospects that the ruling party will rid itself of infighting are almost nil. Therefore their ability to prioritise its citizenry remains a fallacy.

We must not lose hope, there are millions of South Africans that makes us proud to be South African, that under very difficult economic conditions persevere. These are the people we must celebrate, they are the backbone of our dream to be a better society. And fellow United Democrats, we dare not fail them. We must remind them that when Venda Building Society was established in 1983, the Bophuthatswana Building Society was already netting millions in profits. That in 1992 Bophuthatswana Building Society assets grew by fifty four percent to R259 million with mortgage advances rising 48 percent to R141 million.

We must remind our youth that it was their grandparents, parents, black pensioners and Africans on their own that built from nothing multibillion rand worth of companies, such as Yabeng Investment Holdings, Sun Bop and many others that were in 1994 when the ruling elites took power, true to the warnings of Dr Lucas Manyane Mangope,  systemically dismantled and destroyed. Mo Tswana a re,”molato ga o bole”. We will recover those monies, and those politically connected beneficiaries of the labours of our people shall account.

We must continue to pursue, a democratic, federal South Africa.  We must not tire of reminding South Africans of their potential, we must never be conservative with the truth, and we must never lose faith that South Africa will once again have religious education in its curriculum. That the traditional leadership shall take their rightful place as custodians of good morals and African customs in society without political interference. We must continue to request a referendum on the death penalty and corporal punishment. Strict border controls must continue to be non-negotiable and the University of the North West will be named Dr Lucas Manyane Mangope University in our lifetime.

Today in Qwaqwa their stadium is still Charles Mopeli stadium, because they united when there were efforts to rename it, these brave acts must continue to remind us that unity is strength. The Barolong Traditional leadership has made all the necessary submissions for their recognition as a kingship to the Toolo Commission. Mr Job Mokgoro must for once act in independently and courageously and approve such kingship.

Our solidarity remains with the BaTaung communities’s efforts to be recognised as traditional communities in the Free State province. We support the recognition of the Khoi San groups throughout the country. The fact that they do not participate in houses of traditional leaders is a stark reminder to all of us, that even today, in a democratic South Africa, there are still the oppressed and the oppressors.

Our hearts goes out to the thousands of pensioners that built SEBO and cannot get their pension monies. We encourage them to continue to report their complaints at our head office in Mahikeng, so that we have a record of them. We are closely monitoring the curators’ reports in this regard, particularly criminal charges that in our view should be commenced immediately. In November 1993, SEBO had assets to the tune of R3 billion rand, with a 35% payment to its 225 000 or so members. It had shares in Sun Bop, Yabeng Investment Holdings, Rustenburg Platinum Mines, Impala Platinum mines and many other companies.

MoTswana a re,”molato ha o bole”, the looters will be exposed, our people’s wealth shall be returned, justice shall prevail in our lifetime. We will never despair. Instead of building on these great achievements, the ruling elites focused on destroying our assets. Instead, they sought to destroy the legacy created by the United Christian Democratic Party. We must not be driven by anger, yet we must not forget. The many developmental projects have been destroyed, the teachers colleges are closed, nursing colleges are closed, agricultural schools are closed and agricultural co-operatives are neglected. These senseless destructions must continue to remind us of the devastating effects of tribalism, cronyism and factionalism that continue to hold our society backward. 

In conclusion, I am looking forward to the discussions around the establishment of the elders’ council at the upcoming federal council of the Party. We will continue to support and strengthen the Youth League as well as the Women’s League of the Party.

I wish all you all a safe travel back to your homes, and once more to air my gratitude to the family of Dr Lucas Manyane Mangope for their patience and understanding.

Our unity project does not end here, through prayer, we will continue with our efforts to unite this beautiful Party. Integrity is not negotiable, respect and humility is and should continue to be our hallmark.

I thank you!!!!!   


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