Programme Directors, the Honourable Paul Mashatile and Honourable Weziwe Thusi,
The Honourable Premier of KwaZulu Natal, Dr Zweli Mkhize,
His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini,
The Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
The Honourable Mayor of eThekwini, Mr Obed Mlaba,
Honourable Leaders of Political Parties,
MECs, MPs, Councilors,
Amakhosi, Religious leaders,
Sanibonani, thobela, molweni, good day to you all.
Welcome to this special celebration.
In June and July this year, the world descended in our country to participate in one of the biggest sporting spectacles of all time, the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup.
There can be no better day than Heritage Day to formally celebrate this unique achievement of the South African people.
Traditionally, Heritage Day provides an opportunity to reflect on past experiences and to celebrate achievements.
It is an opportunity for the people of South Africa to pay homage to rich legacies that have been handed down to current and future generations by our forebears.
It is also a day to celebrate successes and ensure that we draw lessons, going forward, towards building a successful nation.
Our theme this year is: "Celebrating 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup Successes: Our Heritage".
The Soccer World Cup tournament is one of the greatest achievements of the post-apartheid South Africa. We are proud to have this success as part of our heritage.
Last month we marked this achievement with a debate in Parliament, and all political parties were united in celebrating this milestone.
It became important for us to also come to the people directly to bring this message of gratitude and encouragement.
Compatriots,
We are celebrating Heritage Day in a stadium that is very much a part of the World Cup Heritage.Many football battles were fought at this stadium and the glory of the beautiful game was celebrated here.
This magnificent stadium is also named after one of our leading national heroes, former ANC secretary general, Moses Mabhida.
It is a living monument to this outstanding hero of our people who sacrificed life's comforts so that our country could be free.
The Former President of the African National Congress, President Oliver Tambo, stated at Mr Mabhida's funeral in 1986:
"Wherever Moses Mabhida is in the end laid to rest, his grave shall be like a place of pilgrimage, to all those who love freedom as he did, a beacon to the future for all those who value liberty more than their own lives - as he did''.
We will treat this stadium as a place of pilgrimage, to come and celebrate his life and contribution to our people and our country. This is a very special stadium indeed, not just its beauty and architecture, but what it symbolizes.
Njalo uma siza la kulenkundla yezemidlalo i-Moses Mabhida Stadium, sikhumbula ubaba uMoses Mabhida, iqhawe elanikela ngempilo nangesikhathi salo lilwela inkululeko yesizwe.
Ubaba uMabhida uyohlale ekhunjulwa njalo ngenxa yalenkundla yezemidlalo eqanjwe ngaye. Kwaba ubuhlakani obukhulu ukuyibiza ngaye ngenxa yegalelo lakhe.
Fellow South Africans,
We have spoken in various platforms about the impressive infrastructure, our successful crime fighting and prevention methods as well as the tourism and other economic spin offs of the World Cup.
Today we want to talk about the South African people and celebrate their contribution to the promotion of our country to the world as a bastion of peace, stability, progress and unity.
Our country has never received such intensive international exposure for such a prolonged period of time, and almost all of it positive.
This was largely due to the hard work of the 2010 Local Organising Committee and the sporting fraternity as a whole, FIFA and the South African government.
But most importantly, it was due to the hard work and cooperation of South Africans, who were determined to make the tournament a success, and to create a lasting positive impression of this country.
The FIFA figures are impressive. Nineteen million Americans watched the United States play Ghana on television in their country.
There were huge viewership figures in other countries too.
FIFA estimates that the average viewership was over 70 million people for each match in the key markets of South Africa, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, United States, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, China and Japan.
Through this exposure, we are now known world-wide as a highly efficient country with excellent organizational skills.
We are a country whose authorities were able to arrange that trains, buses and airports ran efficiently, that immigration halls were managed well, with police that arrested suspects without waste of time, and special courts that provided swift justice.
We are a country where entry and exit into huge stadiums was stress-free and well-managed. And we are a nation of very friendly and hospitable people.
We do not want to lose this reputation. We must ensure that this image stays on by continuing to provide such efficient services to our people even when the tournament is over.
We also do not want to lose the patriotism and unity that prevailed during the tournament.
The wearing of Bafana Bafana jerseys and the display of the rainbow flags everywhere in our country by patriotic South Africans will forever be part of our heritage.
Let us continue showing our pride in these national colours at all times as they unite us and strengthen solidarity amongst the South African people.
No words can thank and acknowledge South Africans enough for what they did consistently for a full month, promoting their country.
Compatriots,
The World Cup also played a key role too in promoting African unity.
The support provided to Ghana and all African teams indicated that South Africans realize that the country is an integral part of the continent, and that African success is South African success.
A very important aspect of the World Cup tournament was the arts and culture. We were able to showcase all that is good and exceptional about our music and choreography.
We congratulate our musicians for their dazzling performances, and our choreographers for putting up a spectacular show.
We need to thank our football players too, for not just playing football, but for being the face of the tournament.
We thank the Bafana Bafana coach and the technical team that worked together very well during the tournament.
We also congratulate Mr Pitso Mosimane for being appointed a head coach after having worked as an assistant to the former head coach Alberto Parreira.
We wish him well in his endeavours of building a solid team. The nation is fully behind you, coach.
Compatriots,
We also acknowledge the thousands of volunteers who made this world cup a success, including the children who acted as player escorts. This tournament will always have fond memories for them.
We also thank interfaith leaders who stood behind the nation and prayed for the successful hosting of the World Cup.
We requested our interfaith leaders to join us today in an interfaith prayer.
Siyabonga kakhulu ukuthi abefundisi basihloniphile bafika kulomcimbi wokubonga namhlanje. Ubungeke uphelele bengekho ngoba noma siqala ngo-June saqala ngenkonzo enkulu eBloemfontein.
Fellow South Africans,
We need to draw some lessons from the World Cup experience.
As I said, today we focus on our people, and not the infrastructure or the services.
We have learned that the determination and unity of purpose are recipes and ingredients of success.
We also learned that the unity and cohesion of our communities are sources of strength and inspiration that can lead to greater achievements.
We learned that we are a nation that has serious potential and that ours is to work harder to turn this potential into practical reality and deliverables.
We learned too, that it is possible to build truly united and cohesive South African nation, focused on the goal of building a prosperous South Africa.
The fact that so many white South Africans young and old filled the stadiums to celebrate the soccer tournament, while black people flocked to the Orlando Stadium before the World Cup to celebrate rugby, shows that we have not begun to harness the potential for creating a common national identity.
We have to take these lessons forward. Our people taught us a lot, including that nobody must stereotype or pigeonhole South Africans.
They decided to define themselves in their own way during the World Cup and turned their backs on negativity and divisions.
We also learned the value of coordination in all three spheres of government. Government delivers better when the three spheres work closely together. We must keep that momentum.
Having learned that we are the best organizers and the best tourism destinations in the world, we have to use this to encourage more visitors and more international events to our country.
We learned too, that the slogan "Working together, we can do more" is not simple rhetoric.
We have seen this spirit contributing immensely to the success of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. South Africans did not sit back and say "government will do everything".
They stood up and took ownership of the World Cup.
This is one legacy we need to preserve - the legacy of a people united towards the attainment of common aspirations.
At the end of this month the 2010 Inter-Ministerial Committee will present its final report to Cabinet on the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
We will then be able to consolidate all the lessons and use them to improve the quality and speed of service delivery.
Fellow South Africans,
The most fundamental lesson for all of us, from the World Cup tournament, is that we must never be shy to celebrate our achievements.
Some people may wonder why it is necessary to celebrate the World Cup more than two months after the fact.
We want to start a culture of celebrating all that is positive about this country. We must certainly correct the mistake we have made since 1994.
We have never given ourselves time to celebrate the enormous achievements of our transition in 1994.
We triumphantly emerged from one of the most evil political systems which institutionalized racism, oppression, hatred and division, to a non-racial, non-sexist democratic country.
We then started to work together to build a common future, promoting reconciliation and unity.
This success is still highly regarded all over the world as there are many regions and countries that have for decades been battling to get out of conflicts, and are failing to do so.
Therefore, our national days such as Freedom Day, Heritage Day, Youth Day, and Women's Day should become more focused celebrations of the ushering in of freedom and democracy in our country, and the promoting of building a common future.
Today as we celebrate the contribution of each South African to the success of the World Cup, we urge all our people to become part of the building of a common heritage and common national identity.
We know that it is possible. We saw this moving national pride and patriotism during the World Cup. It made us very optimistic about the future of our country.
Compatriots today marks the first day of the 50 day countdown towards the anniversary of the arrival of Indians in South Africa. That is part of the country's heritage that we will celebrate this year.
Tomorrow evening, is the South African Traditional Music Awards ceremony here in Durban which recognizes traditional music from all corners of the country. That music is also an important part of our heritage.
Let us join hands and take ownership of the future of South Africa together and celebrate our heritage and our achievements.
Working together we can do more!
I thank you.
