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RIGHTEOUSNESS AND PEACE

Master of Ceremonies, Professor LGB Ndabandaba,
Bishop S T Zulu, and all religious leaders present,
Speaker of the House, iNkosi B M Mdletshe,
Minister J S Ndebele, and other Cabinet Ministers present,
Members of the Consular Corps based in Durban,
Leader of the Official Opposition, Mr R M Burrows,
Members of the Provincial Parliament,
Director-General, Advocate R K Sizani, and other Heads of Departments,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.

As we approach the official opening of our provincial parliament, we do so in faith and trust in the Lord Almighty. We bow our heads in humble submission to Him, who in His infinite wisdom created rulers and governors for the just governance of man. We acknowledge the heavy responsibility, which rests on our shoulders as lawmakers. We seek God's guidance and the Wisdom of Solomon to minister to the needs of those who elected us into office. We pray that our vision should not be clouded by personal greed, selfishness, arrogance and pride. We need moral strength to walk tall amidst adversity and extreme challenges which like buffeting winds seek to steer us off course. We are assembled here this morning to garner that form of support, which God alone can provide.

Surely everyone who has lived through this last year will have the terrible image of those hijacked planes flying into the Twin Towers in New York indelibly etched on their minds. Apart from being a great tragedy, it was also a symbol of the tremendously destructive force that can be released when the worlds of religious conviction and political and economic power come into collision. Some might say that this gives further grounds to the commonly held opinion that religion and politics should be kept thoroughly separate from each other.

There is another way of seeing it, however. A good analogy might be the power that is released with the splitting of the atom. This nuclear power can, as we well know, be hugely destructive, but it can also be put too much more constructive use. As much as the Twin Towers is a destructive example of the collision of these two worlds, so our own experience of the unfolding and development of the culture of democracy in our country presents an equally dramatic positive energy that can flow from the coming together of religious impulses and socio-economic realities. While the TRC was not constituted as an overtly religious entity, no one can doubt the spiritual and religious influence of much of what transpired there as the nation sought courageously to open the abuses and wounds of its past, face them honestly, take responsibility for them, and then explore the creative and constructive paths of forgiveness and reconciliation. The TRC was not a perfect process, and it can and has been criticised on many counts, but it remains an example of the power for good that can be released when the worlds of religious conviction and national governance touch each other.

Our continent of Africa is rich in spiritual life and does not suffer from the false dichotomy between the spiritual and the material, which has marked so much of Western thinking. As such, we are well placed to give to the world further constructive examples of the positive energy which can result from a more holistic view of life, where our deeply held religious convictions do not become the occasion for destructive confrontation, but rather are welcomed into the public sphere as a vital resource for healthy nation building. We are all well aware of the huge challenges, which we face in this land at this time.

Politicians, business leaders and religious leaders alike are calling for a moral regeneration as a vital element in our longing for an African Renaissance. The very size of the social challenges we face makes us aware of how much we need God's help and guidance.

Surely it is this conviction that brings us all here together at this prayer breakfast in recognition that all of life is lived under God's sovereignty and that we are all stewards who have a responsibility to do our work as those whom God has entrusted with certain spheres of influence, even if they appear to be in a so called "secular" field. Our God has been very gracious to us in steering us through some very perilous waters in the past, we have been aware of what can only be called miracles of peace and reconciliation in situations where violence threatened to spiral out of control. In each instance we can identify the faithful prayers and actions of God's people as a significant factor in somehow changing the emotional climate.

Thank you

Issued by Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal

21 February 2002