Ooh, all
the time? Okay. No, let us say sometimes, it cannot be all the time. What I liked with that madness is that she would say things as she saw them irrespective of the company she was in. If it is red, it is red; if it black, it is black and she would not say it does not look white.
That madness was a unique gift and she hated mediocrity that is widespread in public service. She had a sense of urgency in executing any task allocated to her. If you were mediocre she would not say you are not performing but would say this mediocrity is not going to take us anywhere. Why are these entities that should be making money and declare dividends to the government are asking for bailouts? That is what she asked us regularly because we are running a lot of entities in the department.
She did not understand as to why entities that should be declaring dividends to government were asking for bailouts? The way she had a sense of urgency it seems as
if she knew that her life was going to be short but her death should not have been this tragic. In cases of talking about death, I like referring to David. I know many people like referring to Job but I prefer to refer to David. He teaches us to realise the brevity of life so that we may grow in wisdom. It is a very important and fundamental expression. He teaches us to number our days so that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
When you are a young person and you do your work as if you know that your days are numbered and you do not know how they are counted. So, that urgency is quite important. The day Bavelile passed on we were finishing the delegations in the department. Let me tell you that we have agreed with delegations. We had agreed on one criterion that anything that requires somebody to run around would be given to the Deputy Minister. This was because she had energy and I told her that I am old; cannot run around.
We agreed that she would do the following: monitoring and evaluation; community outreach; social labour plans; unclaimed earnings of miners; and the rehabilitation of
the derelict ownerless mines and enforcement. So, that is what we agreed on and I was delegated by her to do the broad departmental work policies and following through on the issues.
Unfortunately, I do not have a deputy for now and I may not give the same delegation to that new deputy depending on the energy that deputy will have. [Laughter.] If you are given a deputy which does not have energy it does not help giving same delegation to that deputy and collapse the work. That is where we are.
IsiXhosa:
Abantu bakwaHlongwa mabazincome ngokuba besinike lo mntwana wabo, wasebenza wada wabe uswelekela emsebenzini. Bendimbiza umafungwashe.
English:
This name refers to your first born girl child. The reason for that is that Bavelile was born on the same year as my first born girl child. So, our relationship was a father and a daughter only when she accepts that. When she want to engage she refused to be a daughter and
called me a colleague and I have to emphasise to her that... IsiXhosa:
... Bavelile, andinguye ugxa wabantwana, ndincede, ndingutata ebantwaneni. [Kwahlekwa.] Xa echulumancile uye ayamkele loo nto leyo kodwa ngelinye ixesha athi...
English:
... we are deployed here together by the ANC, we must share responsibilities and it is not your department. That is the kind of the person we are talking about. It is a pity that we do not get asked on who take and who to leave behind. One chap from Mthatha wrote on Facebook that:
IsiXhosa:
Angabhubha njani uBavelile? Nokuba bekubhubhe uGwede kuba mdala kakade. UBavelile usemncinci gqitha.
[Kwahlekwa.]
English:
Now, I have to accept that because it is an observation and not a reality. I am here; I am still alive. I can tell all of you that those who remember the day we were allocated these deputies, one member here asked me...
IsiXhosa:
... niza kusebenza njani noBavelile ingathi niphambene ngokufanayo nje?
English:
Then I told her that the only person who can work with Bavelile is me because I am comfortable in my skin and I will not try to suppress her. I am going to give her a space to display her engineering capabilities. [Applause.] That is what we did and in three months that we were together I was convinced that our department was going to be one of the model departments in the sixth administration. It is bad, though to regret death. We must accept that time has come for her to pass on because verily:
I say unto you that there shall not be stone left here, one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.
IsiXhosa:
Akusayi kusala litye phezu kwelitye, elingayi kuchithwa.
English:
So, all of us we are going to walk on the same journey. It is just a matter of time.
IsiXhosa:
Lala kakuhle Bavelile kwaye siyayivuyela into yokuba usebenze nathi.
English:
It was a privilege that was given to us by God. Thank you. [Applause.]