It is truly an honour for me to be here and welcome such great South African and international leaders to reflect on some of the most pressing issues facing our society.

It really is unbelievable that we are approaching four years since the passing of a great leader and unifier, Tata Nelson Mandela.

It is occasions such as these where we can deeply reflect on the legacy that he has left behind. And we have to continually ask ourselves whether we have lived up to that legacy.

Tata Madiba’s name is associated with love, peace, justice and reconciliation, among an endless list of admirable traits.

He led the way and brought us together in our pain and anger to draft our beautiful Constitution. This is a great man who had a deep love for his country and his people.

Although Tata Madiba gave up his freedom so that his people could be liberated, he never wanted to be acknowledged alone.

He always spoke of the sacrifices made by the people, other leaders such as OR Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Steve Bantu Biko, Helen Suzman and Robert Sobukwe, among others in the fight against the oppressive regime.

It is this kind of selfless leadership that we should look up to and aspire to replicate.

When we wrote the Constitution and assigned powers to the President, we had leaders like Mandela in mind and unfortunately we have to reconsider those Constitutional provisions based on past experiences after President Mandela.

Today, we have to do deep introspection as a nation to review whether we are realising the objectives and values that Madiba lived by. He loved all of the people of this country, but he had a special place in his heart for children and women.

In this regard, I would like to congratulate the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Children's Fund for the work that they are doing and for keeping Madiba's legacy alive.

We have to ask ourselves as a country: are we protecting the most vulnerable in society? Are we doing enough to put an end to the scourge of abuse of women and children?

South Africa is still experiencing high levels of abuse and killing of women and children, and this is in an indictment on our society. This calls for greater action from all sectors to stand together and put an end to this scourge.

We cannot sit by idly in a world where people don’t respect women and children and we need to continue this fight to rid our nation of this despicable scourge.

As our dear Tata said, ‘Freedom cannot be achieved unless the women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression’.

We must all work harder to ensure that all women are emancipated from all forms of oppression, whether it be at home or in the workplace.

In 2018, as the City of Cape Town we will celebrate and honour the life of this great man's legacy in the year that would have been his 100th birthday.

On that note, it is my great pleasure to once again welcome you all to Cape Town. I would like to implore you to assist us in saving water during your visit and help spread our water conservation message. 

Thank you and God bless.

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