Hon Speaker, hon members of this august House, the South African nation is a melting pot of multiple identities based on race, class, gender, age, language, religion, geographic location, etc, brought together along our history of conquest, dispossession, discrimination, segregation and, later, democracy. This is no more evident than in our Constitution, a document which protects and celebrates the differences in our cultures as a right of each person of this country, by acknowledging and compensating for the imbalances of the past. Our diversity, be it linguistic, ethnic, cultural, racial or religious, has always been a feature of our rich history.
In his public lecture, titled The Regeneration of Africa, Pixley ka Isaka Seme called for the rebirth of Africa and the creation of a unique civilisation for Africa and Africans. This unique civilisation would not be based on a racial ideology. After his election as the president-general of the ANC, Chief Albert Luthuli maintained that cultural homogeneity was not a prerequisite for the establishment of an inclusive democratic society. He maintained that the ANC would surprise the world by creating an inclusive democratic society based on human values in a culturally, religiously and linguistically diverse South Africa. In other words, the uniqueness of the new African civilisation envisaged by Seme would be based on the values and principles of Ubuntu. Chief Albert Luthuli was vindicated by the Freedom Charter, a document produced by all the people of South Africa, both black and white, which said in its opening paragraph that South Africa belongs to all who live in it. This provision meant that sections of the oppressed and the oppressors reached out to one another.
Even more importantly, the Freedom Charter recognised the diversity in culture, religions and languages, but consolidated the idea that the people of South Africa, black and white, are one in diversity. This eventually found expression in our Constitution. A period of 18 years on, our young democracy has been challenged by the magnification of our cultural differences. This leads us to lose sight of our common humanity, Ubuntu, and appears to be the underlying catalyst to numerous conflicts.
We have all seen the recent news footage of the violent protests in the Muslim world which was triggered by the making of an anti-Islam film. Here at home, we witnessed the xenophobic violence which was primarily directed against foreigners living in some of the poorest urban areas of the country. We were also transported back to our apartheid era when the intolerance of faith led to the death of Mr Muhammad Fayaz Kazi, who was brutally attacked by two white Afrikaans-speaking men who hurled racial abuse at him before viciously and fatally wounding him. Incidents such as these are not peculiar to South Africa.
In the 2009 Unesco World Report 2: Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue, it is argued that-
... globalisation has increased the points of interaction and friction between cultures, giving rise to identity-linked tensions, withdrawals and claims, particularly of a religious nature, which can become potential sources of dispute.
It thus becomes the primary responsibility of our government and this Parliament to manage and build common values within this increasing diversity of a globalised world. Since the dawn of democracy, the ANC in a postapartheid South Africa had, as its ideological aim, equal representation of the people of this country while correcting the racial inequalities of the past. During former President Nelson Mandela's term of office, his presidency became synonymous with building a rainbow nation. This campaign celebrated the numerous cultures, ethnicities and religions of the peoples of South Africa, and reconciliation and nation-building became the cornerstones of Madiba's presidency. Madiba also maintained that our triple heritage of African religion, Islam and Christianity has a role to play in the rebirth, renewal and development of Africa and her people.
Much like Rev Zaccheus Mahabane, the third president-general of the ANC, who maintained that the recovery of the African humanity was a prerequisite for the recovery of the humanity of all the people of South Africa, both black and white, the African Renaissance spoke of overcoming the current challenges confronting the continent and achieving cultural, scientific and economic renewal.
In this term, current President Jacob Zuma has advanced social cohesion and nation-building as a key programme. The recent nation-building and social cohesion summit on 4 and 5 July 2012, which was initiated by President Jacob Zuma in response to the growing levels of intolerance amongst the various groups in the country, served as a platform for a national conversation aimed at strengthening social cohesion and nation-building. The deliberations and outcomes of the summit are encouraging and heartening and consolidated the commitment to build a nonracial, nonsexist and democratic society in which the values of every citizen are measured by our common humanity.
Those who attended the summit committed themselves to: enhance sound family and community values; uphold honesty, integrity and loyalty; ensure harmony in culture, belief and conscience; show respect and concern for all people; strive for justice, fairness and peaceful coexistence; and protect the environment.
At its 116th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in May 2007, the gathering recognised that all religions have made valuable contributions to civilisation and that there are common values shared by humankind. It also recognised that interfaith dialogue and understanding, including the awareness of differences and commonalities among peoples and civilisations, contribute to the peaceful resolutions of conflicts and disputes, reduce the potential for animosity, clashes or violence, and enable people to perceive ethnic, cultural and religious diversity as a source of cultural enrichment.
It went further to emphasise that interfaith dialogue should focus on what religions have in common instead of what divides them, and serve to strengthen relations between cultures and civilisations and resolve practical problems while, at the same time, avoiding the entrenchment or even creation of artificial ethnic, cultural or religious identities or faultlines within and between societies. It is thus important to promote cultural or religious groups in a spirit of tolerance, and dialogue is central.
In his address titled "From liberation to transformation", former President Mandela recognised that our Constitution rightly ensures the separation of religion and state within a secular state, but pointed out that politicians have spiritual responsibilities and religions have political responsibilities. Having acknowledged that some initiatives had been taken, Mandela posed two questions. The first question was whether participation of organised religions in our programmes of reconstruction and development can be strengthened at national or local level through co-operative endeavours with each other and with government and the community. The second question addressed the spiritual health and vitality of our people. He maintained that in its pursuit for political and economic development, the ANC recognises that social transformation cannot be separated from spiritual transformation.
Answering the two questions, Madiba suggested that we ought to be able to co-operate to transform the spiritual life of our country. More specifically, he proposed that a way be devised for the leadership of all religions to come together to analyse the cause of the spiritual degradation and find ways to tackling it. He maintained that for such an initiative to be effective, it would also require religions to come together at local levels in our neighbourhoods to establish a co-operative approach to solutions and set a practical timetable to achieve their goal.
On 5 September 2011, the National Interfaith Council of South Africa, Nicsa, was launched, bringing together the National Religious Leaders Forum and the National Interfaith Leadership Council. The uniting of these two bodies now serves as a home for all the country's religious leaders and institutions. As its collective mission, the Nicsa will help fulfil the South African dream of unity in diversity, working to build social cohesion, working towards eradicating poverty and social ills, and building partnerships with communities, Parliament, government, nongovernmental organisations, NGOs, and the business sector.
Next month from 28 to 30 October 2012, the Interfaith Action for Peace in Africa, Ifapa, together with Nicsa will be hosting the fourth Ifapa Summit under the theme of "Free, fair and democratic elections in Africa". The deliberations based on this theme will ultimately lead to an outcome document entitled "Fundamental commitments for sustainable peace in Africa in our lifetime".
The National launch of Nicsa will take place within the context of the Ifapa summit on 30 October 2012. Ifapa recognises the significance of Nicsa's contributions and will ensure that an enabling environment is created for this pan-African initiative to seek peace in Africa.
Hon Speaker, all spheres of government are required by the Constitution to respect the law of the country. We are disappointed and concerned to hear that Mr A S A de Klerk, the municipal manager of the Midvaal Local Municipality refused Mrs Netsiyanda the right to perform her ancestral ritual which is an integral part of African religion. We have called on the Commission for Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Affairs to intervene because no official or sphere of government can prevent people who have rights under the Constitution from exercising those rights.
Hon Speaker, we also know that the October 2011 report of the IPU committee on United Nations affairs, outlined recommendations with regards to -
... the need: to organise regular debates in parliament on matters relating to multiculturalism, cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue; to establish specific mechanisms to help maintain these issues on the parliamentary agenda and continuing to take follow-up action with a view to implementing the recommendations of the resolution of the 116th Assembly of the IPU; to play an active role in the elaboration and implementation of national strategies for intercultural dialogue; and to join national delegations to the annual Forums of the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations, UNAOC.
In conclusion, hon Speaker, in the Declaration on Cultural Diversity, adopted in 2001, Unesco notes that-
... in our increasingly diverse societies, it is essential to ensure harmonious interaction among people and groups with plural, varied and dynamic cultural identities as well as their willingness to live together. Policies for the inclusion and participation of all citizens are guarantees of social cohesion, the vitality of civil society and peace. Thus defined ...