Parliamentary Speeches
 

AZAPO RESPONSE TO THE STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS Mr. Speaker Honourable Members The story is told of a high school boy who was fluffing his Mathematics, and when his father scolded him and urged him to pull up his socks, the young man replied: Don’t worry dad. I don’t have to work so hard to get my Maths right. After all, I plan to be a weather man when I finish school. Obviously, the young man did not know that weather forecasters need some knowledge of Maths, Geography, Physics and these days, IT as well, to function in their jobs. He had not heard of Antarctica; he knew nothing about aviation and agriculture, where weather forecasting plays a vital role. To him, the weather man has an easy life because he doesn’t have to work hard to get anything right. Some of us are beginning to feel as though  the philosophy and attitude of this young man are creeping on us as a nation; that we are slowly moving away from the example set by the likes of Steve Biko, Onkgopotse Tiro, Mangaliso Sobukwe, and of course Nelson Mandela, whose legacy we honour with the opening of Parliament this year. Mandela’s legacy is tough and lofty: it is a weighty blend of honour, sincerity, sacrifice, hard work, commitment, patience, endurance and patriotism, selfless service to others and to your country. It seems these admirable values are fading in our public life. In their place we see the relentless pursuit of easy or illicit riches, acquired as quickly as possible, and by any means necessary. We know that our kids learn more by watching us than taking instructions from us. Don’t be surprised by their reply, given verbally or otherwise, when we try to motivate them to improve their school work: “Don’t worry Mum, I don’t have to work that hard at school. After all, I plan to go into tendering when I finish school.”  They would know that you don’t have to be skilled or knowledgeable to win a tender. You need only to be connected through family, political affiliation, the golf course or social drinking. You need only be that kind of a weather man. As we coax our sons and daughters to do their Maths with application and diligence, they might just reply: “Don’t worry dad, I don’t have to get my Maths right, because when I leave school I want to be a councillor or a municipal manager.” From where they sit, our kids might just gain the impression that councillors and municipal managers don’t have to be competent or apply themselves to the task of delivering services to the citizens. They don’t have to be responsible. The kids can see dirty streets, potholes everywhere, uncollected refuse, and yet the municipal manager is having a conspicuously good and easy life. It seems we might be nurturing a society that worships bling, but eschews hard work, honesty, service and commitment. Mr Speaker, every reasonable man and woman in our country would find it easy to embrace the five priorities adopted by government, and pray that they succeed. And these priorities would easily be realized if every man and woman in every classroom in our schools, in every ward in our clinics and hospitals, in every municipal chamber and office, in every government office, at the provincial and national levels, did his or her work with competence, dedication and honesty. But this is only possible if these officials and municipal managers were appointed through a rigorous and competitive process. They were appointed after answering the question: ”What can you do?” instead of the question: ”Who are you connected to?” And when every man or woman does his or her work, diligently and competently, there would be no reason for any citizens to phone the President in order to get an Identity Document or to have the President talking about teachers preparing their lessons here in Parliament. That should be a given in an environment where things work. The grand bonus is that when all of us do an honest day’s work, we can go back to our sons and daughters at home, and looking them straight in the eye say: ”My son, my girl, work hard for your future.” And being the perceptive kids that they are, who learn by watching, they would reply: “Yes Dad, Yes Mum.” Then we would be a people worthy of Mandela, and not a nation of weather men. Mosibudi Mangena 15/02/2010   15 Feb 2010 Parliamentary Speeches comments 0 Name: E-mail: (optional) Smile:          Remember Me | Forget Me Go Back Content Management Powered by CuteNews