Programme Director,
Prof Somadoda Fikeni, Chairperson of the Public Service Commission,
Other members of the Commission,
Esteemed Members of the Sangweni family,
Prof Puleng LenkaBula, Principal and Vice Chancellor of UNISA,
Distinguished members of the audience,
Friends, ladies, gentlemen and comrades:
When the esteemed Professor Stan Sangweni passed away in 2021, my wife, Zanele, and I were privileged to have the opportunity to communicate to his dear wife, Mama Angela, our sister and comrade, our sincere condolences at the loss of a true titan and co-architect of democratic South Africa.
In our message to her we said:
“We are certain that not many South Africans ever got to know what a sparkling and priceless gem we all had in the humble and self-effacing human being that was Stan Sangweni.
“As a people, we have had to contend with a number of strategic challenges during the lifetime of the present generations.
“To succeed with regard to all these, always required that we had the necessary corps of cadres who possessed the necessary skills, who were selflessly committed to serve the people, certain of their liberation, who had the stamina to stay on what would necessarily be a demanding course, and who had the courage which rises with danger, which Nkosi Albert Luthuli had spoken about…
“Among other things, the then new challenge of governing liberated South Africa required of us as a governing party that we take the necessary steps to build a new public service, inspired by a new morality. This was particularly important given the strategic role Government had to play in the historic effort to eradicate the stubborn legacy of colonialism and apartheid.