His Majesty - Hlanga Lomhlabathi;

Queen Mothers;

Ondlunkulu Besilo;

Abantwana Basendlunkulu;

Former President J.G Zuma

Members of the NCOP present;

Former Premiers;

Madam Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the KZN Legislature;

Former Deputy Speaker Dr Meshack Hadebe

Honourable Judge President - KZN Division;

Honourable Ministers present;

Honourable Deputy Minister present;

Honourable Members of the Provincial Executive Council;

Honourable Members of the Legislature;

Members of the Diplomatic Corps present;

Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders, Inkosi P H D Chiliza and Umama we Sizwe saseMadungeni;

Members of the Executive Committee of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders;

Mayors and Councillors of Local Government present;

Acting Director–General, Mr S Ngubane;

Heads of Provincial Departments and other senior officials present;

Business representatives present;

Labour representatives present;

Religious leaders present;

Struggle Stalwarts and their Families present;

Mrs. Mathabo Rachel Kunene, one of our special guests today;

All other social partners and broader civil society present;

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen;

Listeners and viewers at home;

Sanibonani! Dumelang! Good morning! Goeie more!

A colossus of African poetry and an admired son of KwaZulu-Natal, the late Mazisi kaMdabuli Kunene, has a lingering caution: “Life does not begin with Us!”

Taking heed from this national griot who gave us the epics, “Emperor Shaka the Great” and “Anthem of the Decades,” we recall how at different epochs, history has been kind to bless us with revolutionary prophets working for the the healing of our land, our rebirth, and prosperity.

One such figure was the young Pixley Seme who at the tender age of 25, at Columbia University in the United States of America, proclaimed a vision of renewal in his masterpiece, “The Regeneration of Africa” where he said:

“The brighter day is rising upon Africa. Already I seem to see her chains dissolved; Her desert plains red with harvest;

“Her Abyssinia and her Zululand the seats of science and religion, reflecting the glory of the rising sun from the spires of their churches and universities,

“Her Congo and her Gambia whitened with commerce;

“Her crowded cities sending forth the hum of business;

“And all her sons employed in advancing the victories of peace—greater and more abiding than the spoils of war.

“Yes, the regeneration of Africa belongs to this new and powerful period!”

Dr Seme could easily have identified economic freedom in our lifetime as our generational mission in this new and powerful period.

 And indeed, Life does not begin with us.

Today we are here as conduits to express the wishes of the majority of South Africans who have entrusted the African National Congress with the sacred responsibility of restoring the dignity of the majority poor and bring a better life to all.

Honourable Speaker and Members of this august House;

The twenty five years of freedom and democracy of our country also provides a special opportunity to celebrate the longest peace and development that KZN has achieved.

We can never return to the shameful days of the so-called “black on black violence.”  We cannot again be synonymous with the painful memory of being known as the killing fields of South Africa. The recent unrest including killings, looting and burning of trucks, disruption of business operations, and proliferation of drugs cannot be tolerated within a society that intends to build a better life for its people.

Full Address Attached