The Inaugural Integrity Lecture and 94Th Birthday Dinner of Dr Andrew Mlangeni

The Inaugural Integrity Lecture and 94th Birthday Dinner of

Dr Andrew Mlangeni

SPEAKING NOTES

Date: 06 JUNE 2019

ADDRESS BY DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY RESPONSIBLE FOR WOMEN, YOUTH AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, PROFESSOR HLENGIWE MKHIZE, ON THE OCASSION OF THE INAUGURAL INTEGRITY LECTURE AND 94TH BIRTHDAY DINNER OF DR ANDREW MLANGENI

Programme Director: Mr Sello Maake ka Ncube

Former President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe

I take this liberty to affectionately welcome the ‘Birthday Boy’ Dr Andrew Mlangeni

Pastor Blaai

CEO of Mbalo Foundation: Ms Vicky Mbalo

Founder and Chairperson of MADA: Mr Tshepo Mokoena

CEO of In2ITTEch (Into-IT-Tech): Mr Vishal Barapatre

CEO of Systems Design: Mr Thabang Malapane

Our special guests: Ms Sylvia Mlangeni, Mr Malose Kekana, Mr Pat Baloyi, Dr Wayne Letoaba,

And our guests who have joined us tonight for the Inaugural Integrity Lecture and 94th Birthday Dinner of Dr Andrew Mlangeni

WELCOME AND OPENING ADDRESS:

As the Chairperson of the June and Andrew Mlangeni Foundation it is my honour and privilege to welcome you to tonight’s Inaugural Integrity Lecture and 94th Birthday Party of Dr Andrew Mlangeni.

It is an enormous and daunting task to welcome a room full of freedom fighters and thought leaders to an occasion of such stature. Not only are we here to celebrate the 94th anniversary of the rich life of Dr Mlangeni, but we are also here to launch the Integrity Lecture series – a series of lectures to examine the traits of leadership with integrity and in so doing to honour the values and principles Dr Mlangeni has stood for his entire life.

It is befitting that a man so committed to the youth of this country, having sacrificed his own youth for our emancipation, should have his birthday fall during Youth Month. Earlier this week, we launched Youth Month in Soweto at the Memorial Site of Hector Pieterson. We were reminded of the sacrifices made by thousands of children who had to lose their lives for the world to take notice of the savagery, pain, suffering, and oppression our children were experiencing.

(Humorous Tone!) Although just past his youth Dr Mlangeni will remember the sacrifices he has made to meet his responsibilities to his family from an incredibly young age. Dr Mlangeni was the 9th child in a family of 14. His father passed away when he was just 11. Although Dr Mlangeni started schooling at the age of 10, financial problems drove him to seek work at the age of 12 to assist his mother in maintaining the family. When we talk about integrity, we talk about sacrifices like this. Sacrifices made to ensure his family could eat. All this, at the age of 12!

After growing through the ranks of the ANC, Dr Mlangeni was one of the Rivonia Trialists. He was found guilty for recruiting and training for the armed forces and was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island.

Before the court passed judgement, Dr Mlangeni told the court:

"Though leaders of many countries throughout the world have tried to persuade the Government to abandon its apartheid policy, and although resolutions have been passed in the United Nations against South Africa, this has met with no result. All that the Government has done is to reply to the people's demands by putting their political leaders in jail, and breaking up families"

I get goosebumps when I think about the bravery it took for Dr Mlangeni to tell this to a court that was about to sentence him to life in prison. His defiance and ability to speak truth to power is testament to his strength of character and his integrity during a time when it was all too easy to become an informant, sell out his peers, and return to his family. This is Dr Mlangeni’s sacrifice. This is integrity personified. But what is integrity?

Integrity is a word often thrown around, in government, in civil society, in the media, but is not a word people stop on to unpack its importance and centrality in developing a society we are proud to raise our children in.

Integrity, in short, is the practise of being honest or being able to show consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles – This is a summary you will find in most dictionaries, and online trusted sources.

However, who in this room can put their hand up and claim to have lived their lives with integrity? I hope its most of you! (light-hearted humour) When we look at our world, our country South Africa, leaders of business, thought leaders, those in government, are we able to attach

5 the label of integrity freely and without hesitation? This already feels like an uneasy question. You see, the reason for this, is the difficulty of living one’s life with adherence to one’s principles without compromise.

We compromise every day. From the time we wake up to the time we go to bed at night, we are constantly struggling with our inner voices and those of the people around us, wanting to negotiate on a myriad of matters. While some may be inconsequential, other decisions force you to take stock of who you are, or to look at yourself in the mirror and to tell yourself that you are still the same person you were yesterday, despite the decision you are about to make today. To live a life of integrity is a difficult, near impossible task for most people.

To live the life Dr Mlangeni has lived requires a discipline that is self- taught, self-imposed and self-sacrificing. The common term ‘To die for what you believe in’ comes to mind, when you define a person as having lived a life of uncompromising moral value or has pursued a life with an unwavering compass.

We have gathered here tonight because everyone in this room is bound by our common humanity to live a life in the service of others. Whether its commitments to your family, to your employees, or to your country, you aspire to be trustworthy, reliable, humble, solution orientated, and generous with your time. As you strive to live a life of integrity, you strive to be a better person. It is this human capital development that is at the heart of the June and Andrew Mlangeni Foundation. My task in welcoming you here tonight to this Inaugural Lecture is in fact to welcome you to join us in a quest for the pursuit of African Excellence, while at all times remaining true to the demands society places on us to do better, to live better, and to serve better.

I humbly welcome you to a night of thought provoking addresses, collegial banter, shared insight, and light-hearted humour to honour and celebrate the life of Dr Andrew Mlangeni.

I thank you

INTRODUCTION OF FORMER PRESIDENT, HIS EXCELLENCY, KGALEMA MOTLANTHE

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I stand here before you once again with a deep sense of pride. I have been given the singular honour of introducing a Unionist at heart who has sacrificed much for his country.

Like Dr Mlangeni, Former President Mr Kgalema Motlanthe personifies the definition of a Leader with Integrity.

South African society is built on the Constitution that embeds democratic values, social justice, fundamental human rights, equality and human dignity. Our Bill of Rights guarantees access to health care services, sexual and reproductive health and rights, sufficient food and water, and social security and social assistance.

All you need to do, is examine Mr Motlanthe’s work to know that he is driven by our Bill of Rights. Mr Motlanthe

Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe was born on 19 July 1949. He is the oldest of 6 children.

Mr Motlanthe has been a student activist, trade unionist and member of the ANC's military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, during the struggle against apartheid.

On April 14 1976, two months before the uprisings in Soweto, he was arrested by the security police and detained in John Vorster Square for 11 months. He was tried, along with Stanley Nkosi and Joseph Mosoeu in February 1977 on Terrorism Act charges. According to the 1977 Survey of Race Relations Survey: "they were alleged to have undergone training for sabotage, promoted ANC activities, and received explosives for sabotage. All pleaded not guilty. Mr Justice Human found Nkosi and Mr Motlhanthe guilty and sentenced them to effective jail sentences of 10 years each. Mosoeu was acquitted."

Mr Motlanthe spent 10 years on Robben Island.

Motlanthe was released from prison in April 1987 and joined the National Union of Mineworkers as an Education Officer.

In 2000, during an interview, Mr Motlanthe stated the following:

"If we take the South African situation, we've got diamonds here, we've got coal, we've got platinum, we've got chrome, we've got iron ore, we've got gold, manganese, we've got all of these minerals, if we were to turn the revenue, direct it into the national kitty, we would be able to do a whole lot of things. We would be able to build proper houses for people, construct infrastructure in this country within a short space of time and of course, instead of just a prominent middle class emerging, you would have the whole nation of people living well, their children receiving education to the highest levels and therefore an educated people capable of inventing and utilising modern technology, all content. But

8 you see where none of that is available to government, none of the natural resources here are available to government."

He served as President of South Africa between 25 September 2008 and 9 May 2009.

After the end of his interim presidency, Mr Motlanthe was appointed as the Deputy President of South Africa by his successor, President Jacob Zuma.

Mr Motlanthe served as Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 2007 until 2012, when he declined to run for a second term.

Today, Mr Motlanthe, is a true intellectual, and is seen as a highly skilled political operator within the politics of South Africa, and a key figure in thought-leader circles where his opinion and commentary is held in high regard.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you someone who is calm in times of panic, level-headed during times of turmoil and a powerhouse of thought, able to articulate complex matters into relatable experiences. A true leader and an appropriate speaker to present the Inaugural Integrity Lecture, allow me to present to you, Former President Mr Kgalema Motlanthe…