[ Home ] [ Speeches & statements ]

7 March 2009

Salutations

I am delighted to be here today to join the community of this seminary in the celebration of the 140th anniversary of this great institution that has been on the side of those who resisted and fought colonialism. Somehow, I am part of this community after having spent a significant period of my life at this school as a student. I feel humbled to have been invited to be among your speakers when there are so many alumni of this seminary who have given life in the outstanding role they are playing in our country today to the motto of this institution – "Shine where you are"!

There is something special about this seminary that should not be missed, lest we overlook an important part of our history. This seminary was opened to African girls at the time when formal education was limited to the few, and mainly men. To offer education to girls was a serious challenge to the institution of patriarchy which must have been at its strongest in the 19th century. Even today, access to education for girls is one of the targets set out in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for gender equality and the empowerment of women. It is a dream that many countries yearn for.

It is, therefore, fitting that we should be celebrating this anniversary today on the eve of the International Women’s Day. We join those women, all over across the world, who are ready to stand up and claim their place in history like products of this seminary who shine wherever they are.

Programme Director,

This seminary is a product of a particular era in the history of our country. The seminary was founded a year after the discovery of diamonds in Kimberly, a development which was to transform the political economy of our country. Not only did this heighten colonial greed for African labour to work on these mines and the imposition of cruel measures such as the hut tax; this also intensified the process of the colonial destruction of many independent African kingdoms. The discovery of diamonds was to be followed by that of gold twenty years later which resulted, among others, in the emergence of the big city of Johannesburg.
African men were forced by conditions of the time to head for the mines as migrants workers, leaving their wives and children behind.

This shook the foundations of African family structures as they had existed until then and created conditions for the underdevelopment of our rural areas.
African people were dispossessed of their land and marginalized from benefiting from the discovery of diamonds and gold. Whites came to own 87 percent of our land, with Africans locked in reserves and urban slums which were located in 13 percent of our country. We are still dealing with this legacy to this day. The majority of black people are still in townships, squatter camps and the rural areas which are in our second economy. Our first economy is the Johannesburg and the Durban of this world.

Ladies and gentlemen

The struggle we fought until 1994 was aimed at halting the process I have just described to build a united, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa. This seminary made an important contribution to this struggle. Thinking back to the 140 years of this seminary's existence is like walking through the heritage route of the liberation struggle that brought us our freedom in 1994. It is fitting that the seminary is among the pilot schools identified for the Historic Schools Restoration Project.

The history of the anniversary we are celebrating will be incomplete if we do not invoke that of the American missionaries whose work in this part of our country gave birth to the seminary. The contribution that these missionaries made defies stereotypes about the role of missionaries on our continent which tend to reduce them to agents of imperialism and the colonial subjugation of the indigenous people. The seminary and the Adams College that these missionaries established, for example, produced great personalities such as Pixley ka Seme, Dr John Dube and Chief Albert Lithuli.

It was ka Seme who conceived the idea that was to lead to the formation of the African National Congress (ANC) that is today the ruling party. John Dube was the first President of the ANC. The Ohlange Institute, which Dube established for the education of Africans, played a very important role in grooming the leaders of this country. This is the Institute where former President Mandela voted for the first time in 1994, in honour of this distinguished leader of our movement.

Programme Director

The heritage trail through which we travel in celebrating the 140th anniversary of this seminary cannot but take a global view of Inanda as a place not only at the centre of our struggle, but also of enlightenment and rich spirituality.
We are in the midst here of not only Ka Seme and John Dube, but also of George Champion who is known for his contribution in the ANC in Natal and the development of the trade union movement in our country.

The Phoenix Settlement, also here in Inanda, is known as a place where Mahatma Gandhi developed his philosophy and strategies of struggle against colonial rule. Perhaps, had it not been for Inanda, the world would not have had a Mahatma Gandhi!

The presence of Ghandi in Inanda as well as that of the missionaries at this seminary made these places an important spiritual centre in our country. Also, Inanda is home to the holy site of multitudes of the Church of Nazareth.
How many countries in the world can have in one place the spirituality that this seminary represents, Ghandi's wisdom, and the religious ingenuity of Bishop Isaiah Shembe?

Inanda is also remembered as a place of enlightenment. This seminary produced many great minds. And it was also from here that Gandhi ran his newspaper, Indian Opinion, and John Dube his Ilanga lase Natal. Both newspapers are still in circulation to this day, continuing to influence and enrich the discourse in our country.

The scenic beauty and enchantment of Inanda is not complete without mentioning the artists from this place, who include our own Sipho Gumede, Busi Mhlongo and many others. All these make Inanda and its Heritage Route not only a tourist marvel, but also a very important place with poignant historical significance in the country.

Ladies and gentlemen

This seminary has a role to play in helping us move forward as a nation to realise the dream that inspired heroines such as Victoria Mxenge, Miriam Makeba and Ma Tambo. As a girls' school, this seminary is best positioned not only to provide our country with critical skills that we need, but also to contribute in reversing the inequality between men and women in all spheres of our society. We want to see women, at least in equal number to men, in workplaces, our Parliament and Cabinet.

We are free today, we can vote and go anywhere in the country without been asked for passes. But we still have a long road ahead of us before we realize the dream of those women and men who fought for our freedom. The new Administration that will lead our country in the next five years has committed itself to addressing these outstanding challenges in the areas of health, education, rural development, creating descent jobs, and fighting crime and corruption.

But we can only succeed in overcoming these challenges when we work together. I am encouraged by the outstanding performance of students who graduate from this seminary because they are of a class that will shine throughout our country as leaders in their own right in the new struggle to create a better life for all.
In the past women training for a professional career were told that they can only be teachers or nurses. Today, this is no longer the case. We have women engineers, medical doctors, scientists in various fields, and some are even leaders in Parliament.

We are in discussion to create a dedicated ministry for women affairs to serve the new Administration as a mechanism for making the cause of gender equality a reality. This seminary is also well positioned to produce a cadre ship of women who will play a role in developing our rural areas. It is women who bear the burden of the underdevelopment of our rural areas, as many of them, for example, have to walk long distances to fetch water. The next Administration is planning to establish a ministry for rural development because, we believe, and that it is in these parts of our country that the majority of our people are located.

Programme Director,

This seminary has been part of our rich history in its 140 years of its existence. It was with us when diamonds and gold were discovered and when the Zulu Kingdom fell in 1879. It was also here when Chief Langalibalele led his gallant warriors against the colonisers, and when Chief Bambatha surrendered after a long fight for the rights of his people. It is here with us today; and it is, indeed, part of a future ahead of us. The students who graduate from this seminary shine and shine wherever they go.

However, those of us who will stand up to shine just for recognition will not be fulfilling the mission of what this seminary represents. We must shine by giving back to the country and our society the wealth that this seminary has invested in us through its teaching and spiritual counsel. This is the message of the theme of the seminary for this year: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required."

Ladies and gentlemen

History has given us so much by giving us the privilege of being part of the rich past of this seminary and Inanda. Those of us, who have been privileged to live through the heritage trail the seminary has travelled over the past 140 years, have lived in the midst of giants who stand out tall in the history of our struggle. We may not fit in their shoes; at least, we can emulate them by giving back to our country and society what having walked their path has given to us.

I thank you!

Issued by: The Presidency
7 March 2009
Source: The Presidency (http://www.thepresidency.gov.za