Tuesday 10 December 2013

Acceptance speech of the President of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela, at the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony

 10 December 1993, Oslo, Norway

Your Majesty the King,
Your Royal Highness,
Honourable Prime Minister, Madame Gro Brundtland,
Ministers, Members of Parliament and Ambassadors,
Esteemed Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee,
Fellow Laureate, Mr. F.W. de Klerk,...
Distinguished guests,
Friends, ladies and gentlemen:

I am indeed truly humbled to be standing here today to receive this year`s Nobel Peace Prize.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Norwegian Nobel Committee for elevating us to the status of a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate my compatriot and fellow laureate, State President F.W. de Klerk, on his receipt of this high honour.

Together, we join two distinguished South Africans, the late Chief Albert Luthuli and His Grace Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to whose seminal contributions to the peaceful struggle against the evil system of apartheid you paid well-deserved tribute by awarding them the Nobel Peace Prize.

It will not be presumptuous of us if we also add, among our predecessors, the name of another outstanding Nobel Peace Prize winner, the late African- American statesman and internationalist, the Rev Martin Luther King Jr.

He, too, grappled with and died in the effort to make a contribution to the just solution of the same great issues of the day which we have had to face as South Africans.

We speak here of the challenge of the dichotomies of war and peace, violence and non-violence, racism and human dignity, oppression and repression and liberty and human rights, poverty and freedom from want.

We stand here today as nothing more than a representative of the millions of our people who dared to rise up against a social system whose very essence is war, violence, racism, oppression, repression and the impoverishment of an entire people.

I am also here today as a representative of the millions of people across the globe, the anti-apartheid movement, the governments and organisations that joined with us, not to fight against South Africa as a country or any of its peoples, but to oppose an inhuman system and sue for a speedy end to the apartheid crime against humanity.

These countless human beings, both inside and outside our country, had the nobility of spirit to stand in the path of tyranny and injustice, without seeking selfish gain.

They recognised that an injury to one is an injury to all and therefore acted together in defence of justice and a common human decency.

Because of their courage and persistence for many years, we can, today, even set the dates when all humanity will join together to celebrate one of the outstanding human victories of our century.

When that moment comes, we shall, together, rejoice in a common victory over racism, apartheid and white minority rule.

That triumph will finally bring to a close a history of five hundred years of African colonisation that began with the establishment of the Portuguese empire.

Thus, it will mark a great step forward in history and also serve as a common pledge of the peoples of the world to fight racism wherever it occurs and whatever guise it assumes.

At the southern tip of the continent of Africa, a rich reward is in the making, an invaluable gift is in the preparation, for those who suffered in the name of all humanity when they sacrificed everything - for liberty, peace, human dignity and human fulfilment.

This reward will not be measured in money. Nor can it be reckoned in the collective price of the rare metals and precious stones that rest in the bowels of the African soil we tread in the footsteps of our ancestors.

It will and must be measured by the happiness and welfare of the children, at once the most vulnerable citizens in any society and the greatest of our treasures.

The children must, at last, play in the open veld, no longer tortured by the pangs of hunger or ravaged by disease or threatened with the scourge of ignorance, molestation and abuse, and no longer required to engage in deeds whose gravity exceeds the demands of their tender years.

In front of this distinguished audience, we commit the new South Africa to the relentless pursuit of the purposes defined in the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children.

The reward of which we have spoken will and must also be measured by the happiness and welfare of the mothers and fathers of these children, who must walk the earth without fear of being robbed, killed for political or material profit, or spat upon because they are beggars.

They too must be relieved of the heavy burden of despair which they carry in their hearts, born of hunger, homelessness and unemployment.

The value of that gift to all who have suffered will and must be measured by the happiness and welfare of all the people of our country, who will have torn down the inhuman walls that divide them.

These great masses will have turned their backs on the grave insult to human dignity which described some as masters and others as servants, and transformed each into a predator whose survival depended on the destruction of the other.

The value of our shared reward will and must be measured by the joyful peace which will triumph, because the common humanity that bonds both black and white into one human race, will have said to each one of us that we shall all live like the children of paradise.

Thus shall we live, because we will have created a society which recognises that all people are born equal, with each entitled in equal measure to life, liberty, prosperity, human rights and good governance.

Such a society should never allow again that there should be prisoners of conscience nor that any person`s human rights should be violated.

Neither should it ever happen that once more the avenues to peaceful change are blocked by usurpers who seek to take power away from the people, in pursuit of their own, ignoble purposes.

In relation to these matters, we appeal to those who govern Burma that they release our fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, and engage her and those she represents in serious dialogue, for the benefit of all the people of Burma.

We pray that those who have the power to do so will, without further delay, permit that she uses her talents and energies for the greater good of the people of her country and humanity as a whole.

Far from the rough and tumble of the politics of our own country, I would like to take this opportunity to join the Norwegian Nobel Committee and pay tribute to my joint laureate, Mr. F.W. de Klerk.

He had the courage to admit that a terrible wrong had been done to our country and people through the imposition of the system of apartheid.

He had the foresight to understand and accept that all the people of South Africa must, through negotiations and as equal participants in the process, together determine what they want to make of their future.

But there are still some within our country who wrongly believe they can make a contribution to the cause of justice and peace by clinging to the shibboleths that have been proved to spell nothing but disaster.

It remains our hope that these, too, will be blessed with sufficient reason to realise that history will not be denied and that the new society cannot be created by reproducing the repugnant past, however refined or enticingly repackaged.

We live with the hope that as she battles to remake herself, South Africa will be like a microcosm of the new world that is striving to be born.

This must be a world of democracy and respect for human rights, a world freed from the horrors of poverty, hunger, deprivation and ignorance, relieved of the threat and the scourge of civil wars and external aggression and unburdened of the great tragedy of millions forced to become refugees.

The processes in which South Africa and Southern Africa as a whole are engaged, beckon and urge us all that we take this tide at the flood and make of this region a living example of what all people of conscience would like the world to be.

We do not believe that this Nobel Peace Prize is intended as a commendation for matters that have happened and passed.

We hear the voices which say that it is an appeal from all those, throughout the universe, who sought an end to the system of apartheid.

We understand their call, that we devote what remains of our lives to the use of our country`s unique and painful experience to demonstrate, in practice, that the normal condition for human existence is democracy, justice, peace, non-racism, non-sexism, prosperity for everybody, a healthy environment and equality and solidarity among the peoples.

Moved by that appeal and inspired by the eminence you have thrust upon us, we undertake that we too will do what we can to contribute to the renewal of our world so that none should, in future, be described as the wretched of the earth.

Let it never be said by future generations that indifference, cynicism or selfishness made us fail to live up to the ideals of humanism which the Nobel Peace Prize encapsulates.

Let the strivings of us all, prove Martin Luther King Jr to have been correct, when he said that humanity can no longer be tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war.

Let the efforts of us all, prove that he was not a mere dreamer when he spoke of the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace being more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.Let a new age dawn!Thank you.

MOVING TRIBUTE: MINISTER RADEBE's TRIBUTE TO THE LATE PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA at Joint Sitting of Parliament


I beg the indulgence of all South Africans and the world to break with convention because today is a tribute to no ordinary man. I do so not because of my disrespect but because I have been asked to pay tribute to one of the greatest sons ever to grace the length and breadth of our beautiful country, co...ntinent and indeed, the world.

All the contributors to this special sitting have spoken with unanimity because the man we are paying tribute to was well-loved and respected across the aisles of this august house. Allow me to start where I should end. Aah Dalibhunga! Madiba! Sopitsho! Yem Yem! Allow me to speak directly to our icon as if he was present among us. I am doing so because for a life he so well-lived and the dedication he put to a cause in the service of others. I am addressing him directly Mr Speaker, because although he has passed on, his spirit moves in this house.

Madiba, when the sad news of your passing on was received on the 5th of December, many thought the sun would not rise the following day. It did rise, but there was a strong ray missing. The nation should indeed be in mourning but the need to celebrate your life surpasses all our tears. We need to reflect deeply and safeguard all those institutions which you bestowed upon us. One of these institutions is the Constitution, which we are all obliged to safeguard. There is no better way to thank you as Parliamentarians than to ensure that the Constitution you assisted to craft will always reign supreme.

In 1934 at the age of 16 years, when you returned from the initiation school at Mvezo, the elders gave you the name Dalibhunga. To be given such a unique name at that age was an indication that you were born to lead. Whether you knew that one day, as 490 legislators we would be so gathered in solemn respect to wish you well on your next journey, is a question we cannot answer. For many of us it was neither envisaged nor forethought, even though we knew it was inevitable.

I remember with fond memories when you visited to my Constituency in on the 27th of April 1994. You had come to report back to the first President of the African National Congress, Rev Langalibalele Dube, that the people of South Africa had attained universal franchise for all. As a symbol of respect, you cast your vote at Ohlange High School, in Inanda, a school established by Rev Dube. I had the honour to accompany you when you cast your first vote as a free South African.

I am today speaking of you as a man who could have chosen to lead a life of comfort and wealth, of glory and fame, but chose to lead his people. I am speaking of you who could have chosen to challenge the laws of the country in high courts and win, but chose to lead a life of prison – all because of the love you had for your people.

With your friends, Walter Sisulu and former President Oliver Tambo you forged one of the best fighting triumvirates against the system of Apartheid. The three of you became the architects of our democratic order.

Some of us who were called to serve in your Cabinet approached the responsibilities with fear and trepidation. You comforted us all by stating that we were equal to the task because you too, had never been President before. We took our cue from you and did the best we could in spite of our inexperience. It was an honour to serve in the first Cabinet at your pleasure, Mr President.

You taught us the true meaning of forgiveness. You helped us to reclaim our dignity as a people, and emboldened us to stand with our shoulders high and our chins up. Your power to forge unity through sports across all codes, reduced all anxieties and fear for the future. Captured in Invictus, your power to use rugby to heal the nation will be kept for posterity to assist our children forge an even tighter unity.

Bidding you farewell as a gallant soldier, Commander-in-Chief and leader of our revolution is to send you to meet those leaders of the ANC who went before you, such as Dube, Lembede, Mda, Tambo, Luthuli, Mabhida, Joe Slovo and Chris Hani and many others. You have joined the leadership corps that never bent when they were persecuted – a leadership that faced grinding indignity of the humiliation the system of Apartheid, and came out on the other side with their heads held high. It was a leadership that never bent with the wind. You are also joining your favourite isiXhosa poet, S.E.K Mqhayi whom you referred to as our Shakespeare, our laureate, and “a comet streaking through the night sky.”

I remember vividly that at Your Welcome Home Rally in Durban you called on South Africans to throw their weapons in the sea, a decision which was not popular particularly in KwaZulu-Natal at the time. It was only later that we realized the wisdom of your call, for continuing with internecine violence would have led to a mutually assured destruction, making the attainment of peace even more difficult.

You have taught us the true values of humility. Your leadership has been one that was underpinned by honesty. You were courageous and led our country with integrity. You were compassionate and generous. You warned against the devastation of war and preached peace in some of the intractable conflict zones such as when you were the facilitator in the Burundi conflict.

You brought us back into the family of nations. Having been isolated because of the policies of our past, the presence of world leaders tomorrow and Sunday will bear testament to the manner in which you have helped us find our place in the community of nations. Indeed, when you stated on 10 May 1994 that “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world,” you were ushering us into an equal footing with the nations of the world.

So when I pay tribute to you today I am moved by the spirit of respect that has been accorded to you from the different time zones. It is zones that are earlier time zones than ours, such as time zones of our friends and Comrades in New Zealand and in the Eastern Pacific. I am talking about those in the different climates who lived in the sunny parts of Europe and the colder climes of the Antarctic. I am speaking about the many tributes that have poured from the Americas and from our African brothers and sisters. Your life touched all of them and restored faith in the triumph of the human spirit.

I am talking about the kaleidoscope of the colours of the people of the world who inhabit the Antipodes, the Transatlantic, the Equator and the Amazon forests. I am talking about people of different political and ideological persuasions and religious convictions. All of these looked up to you as their own icon too.

You could have chosen the relative comfort of the life of royalty, but you chose an uncomfortable path of taking up the cause of your people’s freedom. You were ready to die for the cause you took, and had to suffer the indignity of twenty seven year’s incarceration. But you taught us much more than sacrifice. You taught us the true meaning and the power of forgiveness.

More than any other leader, you stand majestically as the rightful claimant to the title of Father of the Nation.

I am paying tribute to you as recipient of the Noble Peace Prize. I am paying tribute to you as a man who braced the cold weather of the Atlantic on Robben Island and the glaring light of the sun that nearly made you blind. I am paying tribute to you as the man who stood to defy the power of the Apartheid State and told them that you would stay your course for the benefit of his people.

From the loins of Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa and the girdle of the Nosekeni of the Nkedama of the amaMpevu clan, you were born to lead the nation and the world. You washed in the waters of Mbashe River in Mvezo, which (in your Long Walk to Freedom) you described as (Quote) “a place apart, a tiny precinct removed from the world of great events, where life was lived as much as it had been for hundreds of years. (Unquote).

In your veins coursed the royal blood of Mqhekezweni, where you defied your noble station in life to be a ploughboy, a wagon guide, a shepherd who rode horses, shot birds and jostled with other boys in stick fighting. I speak of you as a man who chose to be ordinary. At this Palace, you lived a life of simplicity, even when you could have taken advantage of the royal life of golden spoons and gilded existence.

From this experience you learnt that in the presence of opulence, the lives of the less endowed were more important than your own. Although you walked tall among Kings, Queens, Presidents and Prime Ministers, you never forgot the ordinary men and women.

You ran your race with distinction and you now have to take a well-earned and deserved rest. We shall always remember you for the favourite theme song Lizalis’idinga lakho! (Fulfil Thy Promise Oh God of Truth!) which you sang with much zest and vigour. As the sweet melodies of the song reverberate, we join you with the composer, Tiyo Soga, in wishing you smooth passage on your next journey. Today we call on the voices of Sisulu, Tambo, Luthuli, Mabhida and Hani to join you in the melodic lyrics that filled the Waaihoek Methodist Church at our movement’s inaugural meeting on 8 January 1912.

It is in another song that your impact on the lives of others and the example that you set where one should also look to. Thus when Whitney Houston in her velvety voice sang the R Kelly-written song, I Look To You, they must have been referring to the example that you set for all.

She sang:

As I lay me down;
Heaven hear me now;
I’m almost lost without a cause;
After giving it my all,
After my strength has gone;
And when melodies are gone
In you I can be strong;
I look to you.

I stand today to proclaim to the world that although you were ours in the African National Congress, there are many who have claimed you as their own hero too. You were a man for all seasons, a leader to all of us, and a glue that binded us together.

We live in the comfort that you and many other leaders of the movement never wavered in your resolve to categorize our struggle as a just one. We have never wavered, under your able leadership, to tell the world that as we struggled for our liberation, we were also struggling for all the oppressed people of the world.

Now that you are in your eternal sleep, and now that you have breathed your last breath, the world looks back at you with fond memories of a man who captured their imagination. There are those who have nimbler feet, whose memory of your famous Madiba shuffle shall forever consume their imaginations. There are those of the lettered kind, whose abiding memories shall be your sharp pen and excellent wit. There are many who are more inclined to the world of fashion, who will remember your multi-coloured shirts.

Then there are children who will always remember the love you have for them. Many of us, as lawyers, remember vividly how you showed how injustice permeated our courts. When you stood in that inquisitory court to proclaim that you stood accused in a White Man’s court, you made us realize that the issue of justice was paramount and until there were equal rights for all there would be no justice.

There are now stark questions that many people are asking about the African National Congress, as we are laying you to your eternal rest on Sunday. The first of these is whether the African National Congress will ever be the same again. Let me, without equivocation, state that you voluntarily joined the African National Congress as member.

You were a colossus who led the Africa National Congress and our country during one of its most trying and difficult times of the transformation of the country. Some have used similar terms such as titan and giant who carried a universal message. You contributed immensely to its growth and consolidations. You will go down in history as one of the shapers of our democratic state. Even by your own admission, you claimed to have been no bigger than other members of the African National Congress, stating eloquently, that you were a member of the collective. But I say you were first amongst equals.

On such occasions of grief, we have to accept that such big men as yourself, survive because of the support of even stronger women. There can be no mention of Tata Mandela’s achievements without mentioning the sterling roles that were played your wife Mama Graca and Mam Winnie. To these strong women, and the entire Mandela family we appreciate how they ensured that the Madiba we bid farewell to today had comfort and support, and that throughout his life, he had a shoulder to lean on.

Your long walk to freedom has not ended. It is just the passing of an era. We pick up your spear to continue your long walks towards the economic emancipation of all so that our economy must reflect the demographics of the new South African rainbow nation.

As I close, let me go back to the beginning. Dalibhunga! Sopitsho! Madiba! Dlomo! Yem Yemu! Ngqolomsila! Velabambhentsele! The big tree has fallen. The world will never be the same again! A pledge we make to you Mr President is that as a nation, we will keep on walking.

Siyabulela!

Funeral arrangements & services

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela will be laid to rest during an official state funeral, which will take place over a period of 10 days.
Former president Nelson Mandela will be buried at Qunu in the Eastern Cape on 15 December 2013, following an official memorial service on 10 December at FNB stadium in Johannesburg.
South African flags at all official buildings will fly at half-mast throughout the period. 
The public will be given ample opportunity to pay their last respects to former President Mandela. There are public venues throughout the country that will serve as memorial centres where people will be able to participate in public mourning events.
Books of condolence are being circulated to all municipalities and government departments. People can also post tributes, record memories and express their emotions at the Government Facebook page.
Books of condolence is be available at our diplomatic missions around the world.
Memorial service - 10 December 2013
The public and media are welcome to attend a memorial service for former President Mandela at the FNB Stadium on 10 December. Gates will open at 06h00 and the service will start at 11h00.
Details on the service are available under Memorial service.
Lying in State - 11 to 13 December 2013
South Africans and selected international visitors and guests will be able to view President Mandela’s remains at the Union Buildings for three days from Wednesday, 11 December.
President Mandela’s remains will be transported daily between 1 Military Hospital, Thaba Tshwane, and the Union Buildings. The procession will leave 1 Military Hospital at 07h00 daily and President Mandela’s body will be on view from 08h00.

On Wednesday December 11, the Mandela family and VVIPs will view the body from 10h00.

Members of the public will file past the body from 12h00 to 17h30.

On Thursday and Friday, 12 and 13 December, the public will have access to casket from 08h00 to 17h30.

Government appeals to people to work with the various agencies of government who will manage this route so that this daily event will be dignified and secure.
Three sites in Pretoria will be used as points from which mourners will be shuttled to the Union Buildings and back. No other access will be possible. Mourners are also advised that cellphones will need to be off and out of sight as mourners file past the body.
Details of this route and times will be provided later. Government invites mourners to line this route and form a public guard of honour for Tata Madiba each morning when the remains are transported. The public guard of honour will not apply in the evening.
Again, we call on members of the public to cooperate with the authorities to ensure that this event is dignified and secure.
Transporting of remains to Qunu - Saturday, 14 December 2013
On Saturday, 14 December, the former President’s remains will be transported to the Eastern Cape from Air Force Base Waterkloof in Pretoria, where the ruling party will bid Madiba farewell.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will take charge of this leg of the State funeral.
A military Guard of Honour will welcome the mortal remains which will be draped in the national flag. 
Upon arrival at Mthatha Airport the SANDF contingent will perform the ceremonial removal of the Mortal Remains form the aircraft.
The coffin will be placed on a gun carriage and then transported into a hearse.
The SANDF will sound the national anthem while the Guard of Honour will Present Arms and salute.
The mortal remains will thereafter be transported to the family home in Qunu, where the Thembu community will conduct a traditional ceremony.
State funeral service at Qunu - 15 December 2013
The funeral service at Qunu will conclude the 10 day State funeral period.
The Mandela family, the President and Cabinet, and other dignitaries will be in attendance.
The SANDF will again be charged with draping the coffin. A National Salute will be performed and the National Anthem will be played.

African Leaders who are to attend Mandela Memorial?

According to South Africa's foreign ministry 37 African heads of state and government are scheduled to attend the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg today Tuesday 10 December 2013;Wow, what a great leader was Mandela:

Algeria, His Excellency Mr Abdelkader Bensalah, Speaker of the Council of the Nation (Senate)

Angola, His Excellency Mr Manuel Vicente, Vice President

Benin, His Excellency Boni Yayi, President

Botswana, His Excellency Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama, President

Burundi, His Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza, President

Chad, His Excellency Mr Idriss Deby Itno, President

Comores, His Excellency Dr Ikiliou Dhoinine, President

Congo (Republic of the Congo ), His Excellency Mr Denis Sassou-Nguesso, President

Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo), His Excellency Joseph Kabila, President

Cote d Ivoire, His Excellency President Allassane Ouattara, President

Djibouti, His Excellency Ismail Omar Guelleh, President

Ethiopia, His Excellency Ato Hailemariam Dessalegn, Prime Minister

Equatorial Guinea, His Excellency Mr Obiang Mbasogo, President

Gabon, His Excellency Ali Bongo Ondimba, President

The Gambia, His Excellency Prof Alhaji Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh, President Sheikh

Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President

Guinea, His Excellency Prof Alpha Conde, President

Kenya, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, President

Lesotho, His Excellency, T Thabane, Prime Minister

Liberia, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President

Mauritius, His Excellency Dr the Honourable Navinchandra, Prime Minister

Mauritania, His Excellency Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, President

Malawi, Her Excellency Joyce Banda, President

Mozambique, President of Mozambique, HE Armando Emilio Guebuza

Namibia, His Excellency Hifikepunye Pohamba, President

Niger, His Excellency Issoufou Mahamdou, President

Nigeria, His Excellency Goodluck Jonathan, President

Saharawi Republic, His Excellency Mr Mohamed Abdelaziz, President

Senegal, His Excellency Macky Sall, President

Seychelles, His Excellency Mr James Alix Michel

South Sudan, His Excellency General Salva Kir Mayardit, President

Swaziland, His Excellency Dr Sibusiso Dlamini, Prime Minister

Tanzania, His Excellency Dr Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President

Tunisia, His Excellency Mohamed Moncef Marzouki, President

Uganda, His Excellency Yoweri Kagota Museveni, President

Zambia His Excellency Michael Sata, President

Zimbabwe, His Excellency Robert Gabriel Mugabe, President

Friday 6 December 2013

What as a young person did I learn from Madiba

While listening to Cape talk radio recently, this question came up frequently: “How will you spend your 67 minutes on Mandela Day? My personal feeling was that we owe Madiba more than 67 minutes. At my beginning of my high school in 1996, I learned about Mandela.  One holiday, as a young person, I was invited with other young to name a baby boy as it is part of our culture and I named him “Mandela”.  Although I was still young, I was touched by how he sacrificed his family and even his life for the freedom; not only of his people but both white and black.

As Mandela passes on, I reflect on how I would serve the community with my time in return for everything Mandela had taught me. The years of struggling that were undertaken by Mandela reflect a lifetime of continuous service aimed at the achievement of equal rights and freedom for the people of South Africa, and also as an inspiration for people across Africa and the world.
As I dig deeper into Mandela’s life, I think about what I, as a young person have learned from this great man. His experience shows that when pursuing a goal, we must put it not only in thoughts but also into actions.  Mandela showed himself to be a man of great compassion.

After the war and genocide in my own country, Rwanda, that left more than a million perish, I realise that I need to imitate Mandela’s qualities. I resolved not to be a hostage of the past. I decided to move on and applied myself in youth development. Throughout the rest of my life, I hope to continue in the same manner of unselfish work. I would indeed like to contribute what little I have to helping improve lives of young people throughout Africa.

With Mandela as my inspiration, I can say that leadership does not necessarily mean accumulating as many titles as possible in a community, but more so, it is defined by an individual’s dedication and actions in a community.
Recently with other young people we have started a youth initiative called Crystal Horizon Youth Centre (CHYC) located in Cape Town to instil creativity in African youth and engage them in the improvement of their own community.
The main purpose of the Crystal Horizons is to inculcate in the youth an understanding of their important role in the development of their communities and to assist them in participating constructively in community development, nation-building and to develop a spirit of entrepreneurship among youth.
 Joseph sitting in Mandela's chair at Mandela's home in Bishopcourt, Cape Town.