Babalo Ndenze and Sapa
PARLIAMENT sang the praises of two of the ANC’s most senior government leaders yesterday as they bid farewell to Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel.
MPs from the ANC and opposition parties took turns paying tribute to the two long-serving members in a two-hour-long session in the National Assembly.
Motlanthe and Manuel will not be returning to Parliament after the May 7 elections and will instead pursue other interests. Motlanthe will head the ANC’s political school, while Manuel will be going to the private sector.
An emotional Motlanthe bid farewell to MPs in the National Assembly yesterday.
He wiped tears from his face with a white handkerchief at the end of his farewell speech, which saw MPs giving the deputy president a standing ovation.
“After six years of history, I am running the whole gamut of human emotions… from melancholy to elation. Humanity is conditioned to experience emotions attuned to the peculiarities of the moment,” he told MPs.
Motlanthe will be retiring from the government and Parliament this year after serving as deputy president of the country from 2009.
He was promoted to president of the country in late 2008, just months after being appointed minister without portfolio in the Presidency.
“For one thing, I am disconsolate for parting ways with members of the party I come from, the African National Congress,” Motlanthe said as he thanked MPs on his side of the House.
“You will know that my presence in this House is attributable to the ANC, which has for all this time been my extended family.”
Motlanthe reflected on his rise to the presidency, which preceded an uncertain period in post-democratic South Africa.
“No sooner had we disarmed Afro-pessimists with a smooth transition to democracy than this difficult historical period emerged, seen in some quarters as sounding a death knell to our nation,” he said. “In the event, we proved the doomsayers wrong.”
Over the almost six years of observing heated debates and loud heckling in the National Assembly, Motlanthe mostly sat calmly, watching the discourse.
Speaking about the nature of politics inside the chamber, Motlanthe said: “While bare-knuckle engagements were par for the course, with bruising exchanges that went beyond the pale not uncommon, I have found this House to be an epicentre of rational and level-headed discourse that left many bloodied but unbowed.
“I dare say, at the end we are all the richer for it.”
While he was sad to be leaving Parliament and government, Motlanthe indicated it was time to hand over the reins to younger hands and minds.
“The truth is, our nation is replete with luminous talent,” he said. “Not only that… at some point, serving leadership must give way so that new blood, fired up with life-changing ideas, can take society to a higher level of development.”
Prior to taking the podium, MPs from across the political divide paid glowing tribute to Motlanthe and his contribution to the country.
“I can think of no better leader for the ANC political school,” Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor said.
Manuel reminisced about the day he was sworn in as one of the first 10 MPs in 1994 with the likes of Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela.
“It wasn’t (an) honour I could have dreamt of in any part of my life,” Manuel said.
Then, Rivonia trialist and ANC stalwart Andrew Mlangeni revealed a secret to Motlanthe and those in the House.
“What you don’t know is that the late Walter Sisulu had always wanted you to be the president of this country. When you became the president, I’m sure his dreams were fulfilled,” Mlangeni said.
Motlanthe was imprisoned on Robben Island for 10 years from 1977.