National Assembly Farewell Speech by Mr Trevor A Manuel, MP Minister In The Presidency: National Planning Commission
11 March 2014
Mr Speaker, Ministers,
Members of Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen
I want to thank the Speaker and the Parliamentary Oversight Authority for their indulgence in granting me the opportunity to address the House today. I leave with amazing memories and a rich experience of participation in the life of this institution and in building a democracy. It was incredible to be part of a generation that brought down apartheid and engaged in the rebuilding of our nation. There have been many great events including the adoption of the Constitution, the repeal of destructive apartheid legislation, the putting in place legislation and systems to safeguard this democracy. It is this spirit that I hope will continue.
It has been an incredibly rich experience to have worked with the members of the Parliament that are here today and those that have been here before. It may be a naïve view but I have the sense that we are bound together by the same oath of allegiance to the Constitution. We may come to issues slightly differently but we are all here to serve our country and the people who have elected us.
One of the high points of my long tenure must be the first time I was sworn in as a Member of Parliament. I had the great privilege to be part of the first group of ten to be sworn in as Members of Parliament in a democratic South Africa on 9 May 1994. I stood in this House alongside Frene Ginwala, Jay Naidoo, Albertina Sisulu, Joe Slovo, Winnie Madikizela- Mandela, Cyril Ramaphosa, Thabo Mbeki and, of course, Nelson Mandela.
While the incredible significance of that day for the nation cannot be adequately expressed in words even now, as a personal memory, it is one that I am sure will stay with me to the end of my days. The sentiment at the time was best expressed by our newly elected first President when he addressed a gathering at the Grand Parade on 9 May that year and said:
Today we are entering a new era for our country and its people. Today we celebrate not the victory of a party, but a victory for all the people of South Africa.
This was a profound moment of joy for me having been granted the opportunity to be part of building the country for which had fought so long.
For me, the election this year brings to a conclusion 20 years of continuing service as a public representative. Firstly as a Member of this august chamber and it bears saying that I still consider service in this House a privilege that we sometimes take too lightly but is a fundamentally important issue. And secondly, the ability to have served as a member of Cabinet for two decades is an even rarer privilege. I have had the incredible privilege of being asked to serve by four successive Presidents. This is a privilege that I share with Cabinet colleagues such as Jeff Radebe. I want to express my gratitude through one of those Presidents, Kgalema Motlanthe, present here today.
Twenty years has been a journey of discovery and learning, of getting to know myself, my colleagues and comrades, understanding our country and the world. There were discoveries of the many possibilities and of where the boundaries were and of how to push back those boundaries. Through all of those experiences I leave here wiser and richer.
Taking leave after twenty years puts me in the privileged position of having many special memories at this institution. The memories of those early days of robustness of debate, of the political sparring that took place between the members on either side of this chamber, of the level of preparedness by all MPs from parties when standing up here as I do today.
It brings me back to a theme that I have repeated often in my time here: do we really use this chamber adequately to debate and understand topical issues impacting on the lives of those that we represent. Issues such the effect of the 2008 crisis and the consequent effect on economies across the globe should have been addressed in this House as an ongoing issue. I watched the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry have interesting hearings and discussions on the impact of unsecured lending on the lives of the poor and I have to wonder why it was not addressed in the same manner in the House first.
When we observe the horror of an unfolding pogrom in the Central African Republic it raises two points. It should remind us that we did not pay sufficient attention to the Rwandese genocide because we were too busy securing our own freedom at the time. It should, more than ever, express the importance of addressing these matters directly instead of using issues in the House as a bouncing ball to score points. We should consider it our role and responsibility as African and as South Africans.
Do we understand our role in defending not only our democratic principles but in elevating the quality of our democracy? These are matters that history will judge us on and for my part, I can only hope that my small contribution has assisted to lay the foundations on which we continue to build our democracy. It is important that we recognise that we carry the hopes and aspirations of the nation with us and through our actions. We must be able to discuss these issues without being distracted by party political differences in the same manner that we were able to when to came together after Madiba passed away.
The past two decades have brought with it many lessons in many different forms. I have had the privilege to be part of that first Parliament that included people in this House still who served with me, inspired me, supported me, reprimanded when required and enriched my experience.
A lesson from those initial years was when President Mandela appointed me as the Leader of Government Business of an institution that I did not know. This was at the time that was I the Minister for Trade and Industry which required very extensive travel outside of the country. I think that the Honourable Koos van der Merwe must be one of the few remaining whips from that period who must have wondered about the sanity of Madiba's choice at the time. This was a learning experience about taking on responsibilities that could not be fulfilled.
When I flew that plane that no longer flies, the outfall ensured that I was thankfully spared any further temptation to repeat my actions. And the lesson learnt when that car was bought for me was that less is more. None of these actions, not the car or the travel escaped scrutiny.
Even as we jettison the notion of rationality as we tend to do in an election, we must remember that we have a responsibility to maintain the hope of our people in democracy and its ability to better their lives. Giving effect to that responsibility happens here in this House.
I referred earlier to the privilege that I had to serve and I am conscious that I was able to experience this privilege because of all the people who had placed their trust in me. Amongst those I wish to thank are the Members in this House today and the Members of Parliament that served before you. I want to recognise people such as Tata Andrew Mlangeni, MaNjobe, the honourable Koos van der Merwe, my comrade Aubrey Mokoena, and MaNtuli for their advice and collegiality.
I have had the privilege to work with amazing staff from four departments: Trade and Industry, Statistics South Africa, National Treasury and the National Planning Commission secretariat. It is important that I say a special thanks to members of my personal staff some who have been with me for a very long time such as Ashford Smith who started on my first day on 12 May 1994, Patti Smith (no relation) who has been with me since 16 June 1994 before it had been declared a public holiday. Of all my support staff, none have been there for less than seven years.
Over the past five years, I've had the privilege of working with an incredibly talented group of people who form the National Planning Commission. These are people whose political affiliation I don't know about but who have worked together to put together the National Development Plan.
I want to thank my mother who is here today and was with me on 9 May 1994, my sisters, my sons, Govan, Pallo and Jaime, and my wife, Maria Ramos who is unable to be here today for their unwavering support and their immense understanding over the past twenty years when I was not always available.
It would be remiss of me if I did not express my sincere appreciation to the leadership of the ANC who saw fit to trust me with the responsibilities of a member of the Executive. For this I thank President Jacob Zuma, current Deputy and former President Kgalema Motlanthe and former President Thabo Mbeki. My greatest honour, however, has been the incredible faith and confidence that Nelson Mandela had in my abilities and I hope that I was able to meet his expectations. My conduct and actions were, and remain, guided by his words and his example. I must thank the ANC for the opportunity to serve and flourish and assisted me to live out the values and the policies that the movement has always represented to me and to the people of the country.
I want to end with this quote:
Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today. For thirty years we have made a virtue out of the pursuit of material self-interest: indeed this very pursuit now constitutes whatever remains of our sense of collective purpose. We know what things cost but have no idea what they are worth. We no longer ask of a judicial ruling or a legislative act: Is it good? Is it fair? Is it just? Is it right? Will it help bring about a better society or a better world? Those used to be the political questions even if they invited no easy answers. We must learn once again to pose them.
Issued by The Presidency, March 11 2014
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
