DURBAN - A festival like Diwali, which celebrates the victory of light over darkness in the Hindu calendar, is an important celebration of our diverse and rich heritage as South Africans.
Diwali reflects the deep cultural and spiritual connections between KwaZulu-Natal and India, the ancestral home of many citizens of Indian origin.
It also symbolises the resilience, strength and value of numerous Indian cultural and community organisations.
During the festival of lights, we are called upon to be of service to others and to work for a more harmonious world that is free from vice and hatred.
It’s a time to fight gloom, apathy, despair and selfishness. The light Diwali signifies represents hope, promise and love, reminding us that we all belong to the human family.
As the provincial government, we are proud to claim Diwali as part of the rich traditions and heritage of KwaZulu-Natal. As we gather here to welcome the festival of light, about 230km away in rural KwaZulu-Natal, in Ulundi, His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu is celebrating Diwali with many Hindu compatriots from the length and breadth of our country.
It is the fifth year iSilo (our King) has hosted the celebrations.
As the premier of the province, I also wish to endorse the important message of His Majesty, who has said we must use the 2019 Diwali celebrations to unite the people of KwaZulu-Natal.
Unity and peace must be the foundation upon which we anchor the dreams and aspirations of our citizens – be they Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Muslim or those who embrace African spirituality.
During the crucible of the Struggle for freedom, it was the unity forged between all the racial groups and faith-based organisations that enabled us to defeat the tyranny of racial division.
To overcome our current challenges and prosper, we must continue to unite our people against those who seek to drive a wedge between them.
Leaders of my political home, the ANC, were inspired by many leaders from the Hindu community.
A key figure among them was the founding father of Indian independence and its spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi. ANC presidents Inkosi Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela as well as Dr Martin Luther King Jr in the US are some of the world icons who admired Gandhi.
It is Gandhi who teaches us that, “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”.
He showed the world that, “in a gentle way, you can change the world”.
He believed in forgiveness, reconciliation and social justice.
As we gather in the promise of the enlightenment that Diwali brings, let us look closely at the importance and meaning of Gandhi in a world that is increasingly becoming polarised along racial, ethnic, religious and ideological lines.
This October witnessed the worldwide celebrations of Gandhi’s 150th birthday. He was born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on October 2, 1869 in Porbanda, India.
In his honour, the UN declared October 2 as the International Day of Non-Violence to coincide with his birthday.
And, if there is one wish that we, the people of KwaZulu-Natal, should collectively express as we welcome the new light, it must be the rooting out of violence in the social fabric of the South African society.
We have seen how violence has denied the women of our land peace, and robbed them of their dignity as they are subjected to sexual abuse, beatings, and murder. What is more tragic is that often the violence against them is perpetrated by men they know.
There’s no doubt, we have lost our sense of morality and ubuntu. Nowadays, parents live in constant fear, not knowing whether their children will return from school or university alive as these too are becoming death traps or kidnapping sites for the young people of our country.
This brutality of the violence is also written in the faces of our youth who have given their lives to drugs and alcohol.
Some of the violence is invisible to the naked eye, yet it can be felt by those who feel the pangs of hunger daily and without any hope that their circumstances will ever change.
At times, it is also, sadly, reflected through increased incidences of racial abuse and intolerance. But Diwali gives us the hope that light ultimately triumphs over darkness, just as good triumphs over evil.
It is our prayer as the government that the welcoming of the lights of Diwali must usher in a new era of sustainable peace and an end to the despicable violence.
It is our prayer that our youth may learn from the tradition of non-violence resistance which Gandhi perfected here at home and in India, instead of resorting to burning public property during service delivery protests.
To succeed, it means that our government must work even harder and closer with the Hindu community to root out social ills and achieve moral regeneration.
Like in the old days, we need to again mobilise and organise our communities. We need to make them realise that they have immense power to be their own liberators.
One of the greatest lessons Gandhi gave the world was in a Diwali speech. He spoke about the need to rekindle the light inside our hearts.
For Gandhi, it was always clear that our greatest battles must be waged with ourselves, and that to conquer oneself, one had to be disciplined.
Gandhi’s Diwali message was ultimately that we must be the change we want to see in the world.
I urge all of you to continue playing your part in bringing harmony and lasting peace in KZN. It is in our hands to defeat the scourge of gender-based violence and the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
Each day, let us make our contribution to deliver a new society that is united in its diversity and free from racism, sexism and inequality.
I have learnt that this year, the world commemorates Diwali on October 27.
This day also marks the birthday of the late ANC president, Oliver Tambo, who once said we all have a “responsibility to break down barriers of division and create a country where there will be neither whites nor blacks, just South Africans, free and united in diversity”.
Let us rekindle this light in our hearts to realise Tambo’s dream of such a united and equal society. I wish you a fruitful Diwali celebration and all the prosperity that it promises. Let us grow South Africa together!
(Sihle Zikalala was the chief guest at the Durban Diwali Festival)