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Minister of Arts and Culture, Z Pallo Jordan: Budget Vote Speech
6 June 2008
Madam Speaker,
Honourable members,
Comrades and friends,
I rise to move the budget for the Department of Arts and Culture at a time of deep humiliation. South Africa and her people have been profoundly shamed before the world and the African continent as a result of the actions of what in reality were a few hundred xenophobic individuals, who are a tiny minority of our population.
There are no excuses and there is no acceptable explanation for these xenophobic attacks that have targeted the humble dwellings, the businesses and the very persons of fellow Africans merely because they were born outside South Africa's borders.
This violence, in words and in deeds, is totally unacceptable and must be unequivocally condemned as barbaric. Even as we bow our heads in condolences for those who have lost their lives we must make a collective vow, Never, never again!
We commend the actions of the thousands of ordinary South Africans who have given assistance to, sheltered and protected the victims of this violence. We compliment our government, at all three tiers, for its efforts to offer shelter, warmth, food and protection for those driven from their homes. The true face of South Africa, the humanity and warmth of our nation was expressed in the actions of thousands including primary and high school pupils who have responded to this crisis with profound generosity.
We congratulate also the law enforcement services of our country for the manner in which they have responded, arresting and charging those responsible for these brutal acts of xenophobia.
Yet, this is not a moment to be despondent. We seize this moment to be introspective; to examine critically what we as a Ministry and as a Department of Arts and Culture have achieved since the last time I stood here; to weigh our shortcomings and our successes. The terrible violence we have witnessed in our country, I think, requires us all to discover what is it that has gone so terribly wrong that South African citizens could be reduced to acting against other human beings with such callous cruelty.
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