JOURNEY TO A RAINBOW NATION
FROM A DIVIDED TO A UNITED SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa travelled a remarkable path from apartheid to a country that is now referred to as the “Rainbow Nation”. But the creation of a cohesive nation united in diversity is still an on-going task that requires parliamentary leadership and the involvement of all South Africans, writes the former Chief Whip of the ruling party in the National Assembly.
Dr Mathole Motshekga, MP, in Cape Town. Dr Motshekga is the former Chief Whip of the African National Congress in the National Assembly. A lawyer and law professor, he co-chaired a local government commission which drafted a chapter of the South African constitution. He has served as legal advisor to the National Coalition of Traditional Leaders and to two monarchs of the Balobedu nation in Limpopo province.
must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” This was his credo.
Dr Mathole Motshekga, MP
Ours is an extraordinary country with resilient people, inspired by the century’s icon of reconciliation, compassion and goodwill, South Africa’s first democratic president Nelson Mandela.
“My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil. But I have always known that its greatest wealth is its people, finer and truer than the purest diamonds. No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People
26 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue One - South Africa
When he took office he said he was prepared “to do anything, to bring the people of this country closer together”. He articulated this in his biography Long Walk to Freedom: “It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated, just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred; he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.”
United by a vision
Mr Mandela’s vision of a country belonging to all who live in it surpassed the idea of “national liberty” and people from across South Africa’s religious and racial divide gravitated towards his visionary leadership. He ensured that exclusivity in terms of tribal leanings or race was not acceded to and thus became the symbol of our liberation struggle. When we attained the right to vote and chose freedom, we all succumbed to the euphoria of the moment. We believed then, and rightly so, that if we could overthrow the evil system that was apartheid, we could build a truly non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous society. It felt that nothing was impossible at that point. Our first test in coming together as a nation, united in our diversity, was to ensure that the constitution of our land is legitimate, credible and accepted by all South Africans. To this extent, the process of drafting the constitution involved many South Africans in the largest
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