Speech by the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Patricia de Lille on
the occasion of the prayer session hosted by the City of Cape
Town, in partnership with the Western Cape Christian Ministers
Association, at Nelson Mandela Park Stadium, Makhaya,
Khayelitsha
Members of the Western Cape Christian Ministers Association,
Honoured guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon, goeie dag, molweni, as-salaam alaikum, shalom,
This is an important occasion where we use the power of our faiths to try and
bring about positive change.
Faith requires the commitment, belief and personal power of the individual.
It is the sure knowledge that, though we may sometimes be prevented from
coming together to express our beliefs, we endure in the knowledge that
something within and beyond us lives.
Faith is a living phenomenon.
It is the proposition that those seemingly unknowable aspects of our humanity
are part of a much greater comprehension that can be accessed through a
belief system.
In essence, it is the ability to find power within ourselves and within others.
I am proud to be the mayor of a city where we have so many belief systems.
They not only add to the diversity of our city, they strengthen our communities
and create durable networks of cultural interconnections.
They help us find and discover one another.
While we may not all share the same faith, we are all brought together by
that which we do share: a commitment to our communities; a commitment
to a better future; and a compassion and humanity that compels us to make
a better society, for ourselves and our children.
This is a process of mutual recognition, of seeing the best parts of ourselves in
others.
While those gathered here may find strength in faith, we must also
acknowledge that there are many people in our city who do not.
It is upon us to recognise that, as much as we want to be respected for our
choices, we must respect everyone else for theirs.
For a free society, one that cherishes all religions and all belief systems, is
based on choice and individual freedom- a choice to believe or not and the
rejoicing in the freedom to choose.
Indeed, as the Bill of Rights in our Constitution notes, ‘Everyone has the right to
freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion.’
My very best wishes on this blessed occasion.
Thank you, baie dankie, enkosi.