Speech by Executive Mayor Alderman Patricia de Lille: Honouring
the life and times of Nelson Mandela at the Cape Town City Hall on
Saturday 16 July 2011
Honoured guests,
It is not often that people speak about their heroes anymore. We have, in
many ways, become too cynical, never truly convinced that someone else
could put the interests of others first without some selfish goal in mind.
If we have become hard with our emotions, we have become equally hard
with our time and the effort we expend to change society. The same
cynical nature that infects our interpretation of events affects our
interaction with others.
Tata Madiba has taught us that in fact, we don’t know it all. He has taught
us, through his own personal example, that you can still be a hero and
change the world.
We are here tonight to celebrate Madiba, one of the freemen of our city.
He led us through difficult times from a time of pain and trauma that
sometimes seemed overwhelming.
It is important to realize that this is a legacy that is not yet complete. We
still have some way to go before we achieve the kind of society that
Madiba dreamed of and fought for.
As Tata himself said in his autobiography, ‘Long Walk to Freedom:’
"The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the
freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the
final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more
difficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to
live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. The true
test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning."
We are working towards achieving that freedom based on respect and
that underscores the importance of Mandela Day.
Every year on Mandela Day, we are all encouraged to take 67 minutes of
our time to help people, to do something good for them.
Those 67 minutes must be a catalyst for changing attitudes and for
changing the way that we interact with one another.
If we fail to live up to that challenge laid down to us, then we consign the
values of respecting our diversity and our common humanity to the
cynics. That is not the kind of world we want our children to inherit.
That is why the City has decided to draw special attention to Mandela
Day. Yesterday, we honoured Tata Madiba by renaming Eastern Boulevard
after him.
I am also proud to announce that the City will create a permanent
exhibition space dedicated to Nelson Mandela. The City, the Nelson
Mandela Foundation and the Mandela Rhodes Trust have reached a
memorandum of understanding to develop a permanent exhibition for the
Cape Town City Hall representing the life and times of Madiba.
This legacy will allow the people of Cape Town to access information
about Madiba and learn about his life. I wish to express my thanks to the
Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Mandela Rhodes Foundation for their
commitment and support.
Tonight, however, we draw a special kind of attention to Mandela day. To
underscore his importance, we wanted to create an event that would have
an impact on people’s minds and draw attention to the spirit of Mandela
Day.
That is the reason we are having this charity event tonight. The FIFA
World Cup came to an end last year and we are still celebrating our
successes. Since that tournament, we have undertaken the Mandela
Canvas, which bears the handprints of a range of iconic figures and
celebrities. They all showed their dedication to Madiba’s legacy by making
their mark on this canvas.
It is now a testament to the goodwill felt by all because of this global icon
and his life of service. It is a reminder that Madiba has touched every last
one of us and that we are living in a world infused with his values.
I would personally like to thank everyone involved in this project,
especially Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Honsou for publicising this
canvas. We would also like to thank them for their contributions to this
auction and for generously giving their time to be with us here this
evening.
I would also like to take a moment to remember Prof Kader Asmal, who
sadly passed away recently but whose prints provide a memory of his own
dedication to the struggle for our freedom.
We are asking you tonight to take a piece of this history that embodies
the hope felt by people around the world because of Madiba and also
captures a proud moment in our country’s time.
The proceeds of your generosity will go towards supporting the good work
done by the Nelson Mandela Foundation as it continues to promote
Madiba’s legacy.
There are also several other items on auction. The proceeds of those
auctions will go to two charities that I have selected, namely the Red
Cross Children’s Hospital Trust, which assists the Red Cross War Memorial
Children’s Hospital, in its crucial work.
The other charity is the Beautiful Gate Ministry, another children’s charity,
which helps provide relief for children living with HIV/AIDS.
Our children will take Tata Madiba’s legacy forward.
In that regard, I would also like to make a special appeal to you to
complete the pledge forms in front of you asking for a commitment from
you to these charities as a show of your dedication to Mandela Day and
the spirit of giving 67 minutes of your time.
Let us try our utmost to spread the goodwill of this evening to those
charities.
Madiba showed us a vision of the way forward. It was a vision rooted in
the simple principle of mutual respect: respect for ourselves and each
other.
It was a celebration of our diversity and, in that celebration, finding our
greatest source of strength. We honour that strength, and him, tonight.
We want to thank all of those who used their hands on the canvas and
ask the others to put their hands in their pockets.