Good speech, Cde Sediko! _____
PPF.png Progressive Professionals Forum, North West, 19 July 2016 Inputs from Provincial Convener of (PPF-NW) Mr Sediko Rakolote in conversation with Executive Mayor of Rustenburg Local Municipality Cllr Mpho Khunuo Theme: Active Citizenry and Patriotic Citizens Executive Mayor of Rustenburg Local Municipality Cllr Cde Mpho Khunou and councillors present, Fellow members of the Progressive Professionals Forum in North-West Leadership from various business sectors, Ladies and Gentleman, Dumelang, Good evening Receive the warm welcome from PPF-NW. We are humbled by your presence here tonight to join in a conversation that its main objective is engage on issues that will positively contribute in building a world class Rustenburg Local Municipality where all communities enjoy a high quality of life. Ladies and Gentleman, We are having this conversation after the birthday of the world renowned icon the late President Mandela who was once declared a terrorist because of his activism and patriotism. Surprisingly some of those who benefited from the government that called him a terrorist and imprisoned him for years, today are telling us how good Mandela was compared to the current leadership of the ANC. It is unfortunate when they are saying that some of us the academia, intelligentsia are keeping quite instead of correcting that narrative. They did not love Mandela. They have never loved Mandela. They have never supported Mandela. Their claim to love him now must be disputed. It is Nelson Mandela himself who said the following about them, when he was delivering a presidential report to the 50th National Conference of the African National Conference in Mahikeng on the 16 December 1997: He said: "Further, even a cursory study of the positions adopted by the mainly white parties in the national legislature during the last three years, the National Party, the Democratic Party and the Freedom Front will show that they and the media which represents the same social base, have been most vigorous in their opposition, whenever legislative and executive measures have been introduced, seeking the end to the racial disparities which continue to characterise our society." The late President Mandela characterised this counter-revolutionary elements and he was not shy to say it publicly that they are defenders of white supremacy. Mandela was a lawyer by profession and he understood the importance of using a profession to positively advance society. . How many of us are currently their profession to positively advance the society? . He remains the embodiment of active and patriotic society. Compatriots, We are having this conversation after the birthday of the mama Adeliade Tambo. A political activist of high note. On August 9 1956 Adelaide took part with 20,000 others in the women's march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria. She was around 28yrs at that time. Remember she was a nurse by profession and she could have just decided to focus on her profession than worrying about the liberation of the masses. But because of her patriotism she sacrificed her live and she lived in exile with her husband Tata Oliver Tambo, voluntarily doing the work of the ANC outside the country. Before her passing away Adelaide was involved in helping elderly people in Benoni, and disabled children in Soweto. . How many of us are currently using our profession to positively advance society? . She remains the embodiment of active and patriotic citizenry. Compatriots, We are having this conversation tonight on the birthday of the Umkhuluwa Cde Kgalema Motlhanthe. Patriotic citizen who sacrificed his time of enjoying being a youth and because of patriotism got involved in the struggle for the liberation of the people. He was 28yrs old, he was sentenced to an effective 10 years imprisonment on Robben Island. Even during his time of detention he never sacrificed and sold out. He remained patriotic to the course and stand for the truth. . How many of us will never sell out even when the going gets tough? . He remains the embodiment of active and patriotic citizenry. Colleagues, Tonight we are here to have a conversation on active citizenry and patriotic citizens to build a world class Rustenburg Local Municipality where all communities enjoy a high quality of life. Being active and patriotic is not an impossible task to do but it needs people who are selfless and ready to sacrifice. . Active citizenship means people getting involved in their local communities . Patriotism means devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty. So one can be active citizen but not a patriotic citizen. There are many examples of that. There are people who are burning schools, libraries, clinic etc. They are very active but not patriotic. You find some of us actively participating in the Ratepayers forum and advocating for non-payment of services. That's being active but not patriotic. You can't wish for world class Rustenburg Local Municipality where all communities enjoy a high quality of life and withhold payment of services whilst afford to pay. Executive Mayor, As PPF-NW we know of your dream of: . World class Rustenburg Local Municipality that receives clean audits. . World class Rustenburg Local Municipality that meets the residents growing water demands. . World class Rustenburg Local Municipality that will diversify its economy and focuses on agriculture, tourism and Industry development. We will walk with you hand in hand for that dream to be realised. We understand you very well Executive Mayor, when you said "We need to be the change we want to see". Fellow PPF members, At all times let us remember that ours is not the formation of self-seeking glory but to positively advance our country and its people, working closely with the progressive movement. We remain objective at all times. Not playing to gallery at all. It is our responsibility to contribute in building a better Rustenburg for all. We owe our academic qualifications, our success to the lives of our forebears in the struggle. We are direct beneficiaries of progressive policies of ANC government. . A sign of us being active citizens is to go out in numbers on the 3rd of August 2016 and vote! . A sign of us being patriotic citizens is not to vote for any political party that promotes white supremacy and want the status quo of economy in the hands of the few to remain as such. A party that want the landless to remain landless by taking the expropriation bill to court. . A sign of us being patriotic citizens is not to vote for any political party that confuses militancy with anarchy. Any party promotes anarchy promotes lawlessness.Any party that promotes lawlessness is not patriotic. . A sign of us being patriotic citizens is not to vote for any person who calls himself/herself an independent candidate. If he/she is an independent candidate where does she/he gets mandate from? How will she/he able to function in a multi-party system within council? An independent candidate is also independent from accountability and transparency. He/she will not account to you but himself/herself. Programme Director Allow me to take your time and quote one of the Presidents of ANC Dr AB Xuma. An educator and a medical doctor by profession. During his Presidential address on 14th December 1941 he said: "To-day you and I, the better trained we are, seem more disposed to work under orders and direction of others against and away from African organizations. Someone said to me one day, with some degree of truth, "We uneducated Africans feel that the educated African is lost to us. He is afraid to identify himself with his own people. When crisis .arises, he is either silent or joins the forces against his own people. We do not know whether the education you get puts fear in you." I was dumbfounded; but was somewhat ashamed because you and I, outside our jobs for which we are paid, have not done the best we can to assist our people." Fellow colleagues, We must ask ourselves the following questions: . Are we identifying ourselves with the masses of our people or we alienate them as uneducated? . Outside the jobs that we are paid to do, what more are we doing to build a better society? If we can honestly answer that, then we can claim to be active and patriotic or simply say we are anti or counter-revolutionary. Rustenburg Local Municipality, needs us. We must pull our full weight; we must make our real contribution to the building and the progress of Rustenburg Local Municipality to the full benefit, of all sections of the society. As members of PPF, we don't ask what the country can do for us but we selflessly and voluntarily do what is needed by our country from us. Fellow colleagues and compatriots, Finally, we would like to thank you once more for coming tonight. As PPF- NW we are humbled by your presence and we are looking forward to your active participation in this conversation. It is our wish that the relationship we are creating with you tonight is not going to end after the last item on the program. We commit to be a realible ally of Rustenburg Local Municipality in advancing the ideals of the Freedom Charter. I thank you. Pula!!!!!! Issued by: Sediko Rakolote Progressive Professionals Forum, North West Email: [email protected] If you have questions regarding the Progressive Professionals Forum please contact: Luther Lebelo, PPF Head of Communication and Media, 083 463 8882 or Siphile Buthelezi, PPF Secretary General, 083 711 3543 __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 13842 (20160722) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. 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