Hon members, friends, comrades

You have done me a great honour in allowing me time to say a few words on my retirement from Parliament. I am one of a now dwindling band of parliamentarians who have been here since 1994 and the dawn of democracy in this country; I was also part of the world-wide anti-apartheid struggle inspired by my movement, the African National Congress, and the noble Freedom Charter.

It was a struggle that uniquely galvanised the international community. It was a struggle that united humanity, and mobilised the United Nations - a struggle that relied on the selfless support and sacrifice of the frontline states of southern Africa. It was invigorating and humbling to be part of that awakening of the conscience of the world to combat the apartheid crime against humanity.

I come too from that generation of which Judge (then professor) Albie Sachs wrote;

"If a constitution is the autobiography of a nation, then we are the privileged generation that will do the writing".

The book we produced is here and everywhere: the guarantor of our freedom.

It is therefore a real challenge to know what to say to do justice to this occasion - though I can assure you that these will not be the last words you will hear from me. When the famous Labour MP Tony Benn retired from the House of Commons after 51 years, he quoted his wife as saying that now he would "have more time for politics".

Perhaps Louise, my own wife and partner of 46 years, would say something similar. Certainly, today marks not the end of the story, but the start of a new chapter. I shall not be leaving public life, because politics is in my blood and because my whole life has been one long political journey where the public and private have been inseparable.

Departing members are allowed to give themselves one final consolation, a valedictory speech - an occasion for some reflection, some explanation, much self-indulgence and a little ancestor worship.

My journey began over 60 years ago with my relationship with Albert Luthuli and was inspired by his vision of a free, non-racial South Africa with justice and equal rights for all. It was he who drew my attention to the struggle and indivisibility of human rights after I had seen the practices and the merciless cruelty of the Nazis in the concentration camps - inflicted on Jews, Slavs, communists, homosexuals alike - in a supposedly civilised country. It was then that I understood the brave words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

Not to speak is to speak
Not to act is to act.

A school teacher to start with - some say rudely that I never stopped teaching - and afterwards a law student, I discovered law as an instrument of liberation; it was exhilarating. As a lecturer in Dublin I used the new international law to advance the world-wide anti-apartheid struggle. The years of exile were long, but the friendships made in that struggle, the comrades who visited Dublin to assist in raising awareness, the solidarity of the Irish people (who taught me that you must never fight over water - other liquids are different) made it all worthwhile. Academic life, family life, my involvement in the ANC, the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (the last two of which I helped found) made a rich tapestry. The roll-call of those in Ireland who helped extended former Irish President Mary Robinson and Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume, to trade unionists such as Mary Manning; those from southern Africa whom we invited to further the anti-apartheid campaigns included Amilcar Cabral, Oliver Tambo, Sam Nujoma, Joe Slovo, Thabo Mbeki, Ruth First, and Ronald Segal. And of course Nelson Mandela, the icon of our struggle. They have given me a life-long commitment to the ideals of self-determination, freedom, justice, human dignity, and equal rights for all.

Those ideals find expression in the Constitution of our country. As Chief Justice Mohamed explained in 1995, it is no ordinary constitution:

"In some countries the Constitution only formalises, in a legal instrument, a historical consensus of values and aspirations evolved incrementally from a stable and unbroken past to accommodate the needs of the future. The South African Constitution is different: it retains from the past only what is defensible and represents a decisive break from, and a ringing rejection of, that part of the past which is disgracefully racist, authoritarian, insular and repressive, and a vigorous identification of and commitment to a democratic, universalist, caring and aspirationally egalitarian ethos expressly articulated in the Constitution."

Ten years as a Minister taking part in one of the most creative acts of reconstruction the world has seen was incredibly rewarding. What we have achieved together cannot be expunged from memory because of our current difficulties.

Our Constitution is not a dead document. It applies to all of us today, it urges us to care for all who live in our country, and to work towards a better life for all. It is our collective pledge. In other words, it embodies values which this House must respect, and which permeate the laws we pass and indeed every aspect of our lives. It is a living instrument that enlarges our freedoms and restricts our power to act arbitrarily.

We may not like these restrictions. We may be tempted to take short cuts, to ride roughshod over others, in order to reach the goals we seek. I must confess that as a Minister I was sometimes impatient with the processes of consultation and the parliamentary committee meetings. Nevertheless, such democratic processes are essential to our progress. We cannot afford to manoeuvre around the human rights our Constitution has laid down. We must not attack the separation of powers laid down in our Constitution. And we need to follow its spirit, not only the letter.

Human rights are never static; they are always dynamic. They are never completely won, just as they are never completely lost. In our defence of them, we too cannot afford to stand still. We must never allow complacency of the sort that has betrayed the people of Kenya. We need constantly to seek to improve how and by what means we can promote and protect the rights set out in our own Bill of Rights. This is the challenge that Parliament faces.

Our democracy is young, and still fragile. This places a heavy burden on you in Parliament to ensure that the rule of law prevails and that government and its agents govern under the law as laid down in the Constitution - whether in relation to immigrants or in combating terrorism.

This body - this Parliament - has a crucial role to play. For human rights to retain their primacy in our new democracy, they must continue to be championed by the Members of our National Assembly.

For human rights to be progressively realised - the enjoinder that is attached by the Constitution to the array of socio-economic rights that our Bill of Rights enshrines - government must actively pursue them, and Portfolio Committees must insist on Departments accounting to them on delivery.

Under our Constitution, we have established a series of "Chapter Nine" bodies aimed at promoting, enlarging and defending different aspects of democracy and human rights. I was very proud to be asked to chair a body to look at the progress and efficiency of these bodies. Parliament will, I hope, set aside some time to debate the questions that our report raised, and to decide whether or not our recommendations should be implemented.

These are countervailing bodies. So is the press. We are sometimes too sensitive to criticism - in the press or by civil society. Obviously, we are entitled to make sharp responses to such criticism. I will confess to occasionally being annoyed as any of you at misconceived, inaccurate or tendentious criticism, and I have voiced my annoyance, sometimes even anger. However, what would be wrong would be any attempt at intimidation of the press, or any threat to curtail press freedom - not because the Constitution protects press freedom but because it is a vital element of our democracy. We must cherish it.

We should have nothing to fear from being robust in our pursuit of oversight and accountability. And I speak now to the members of my own party. It is as much in our interests as the ruling party as anyone else to find constructive ways to engage with the executive to find solutions and to ensure that we are responding to the precise needs and priorities of the most vulnerable members of our society.

I look forward to the next chapter of my political journey. I will continue to strive to offer a public voice, in public spaces - and remain always committed to the realisation of human rights, to the rule of law, and in support of those institutions, like the judiciary, whose strength, independence and integrity are indispensable to a modern, constitutional democracy. And always remembering the words of Nelson Mandela uttered over 50 years ago: ordinary people cannot be treated as victims, for "they can rise from being the object of history to becoming the subject of history" by "becoming the conscious creators of [our] own history"! This is a wonderful challenge to us.

It was the dream of freedom that kept our hopes alive.

But:

History says, Don't hope
On this side of the grave,

Seamus Heaney's tribute to Nelson Mandela is a tribute to hope, as he concludes:

But then, once in a lifetime
The longed for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.

Honourable members, continue hoping.

I shall miss you, honourable members, but I shall not forget you, the tribunes of our people. Nor shall I forget the many unsung heroes and heroines of our struggle, both in this country and in Britain and Ireland, with whom I have worked. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to them. I must also thank the staff who supported me when I was first Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, and then Minister of Education, as well as the parliamentary staff; they have shown an extraordinary degree of professionalism and loyalty. Many of them are in the gallery.

Ndiza kunikhumbula nonke, Malungu aBekekileyo, andi sokuze ndinilibale. Kaloku sizizicaka zabantu base Mzantsi Afrika.

That's it then. Shalom, salaam, salani kahle, salani kakuhle, salahantle, tot siens, goodbye.

This is the prepared text of a speech delivered by Kader Asmal to the National Assembly, Cape Town, February 26 2008