Habib Bobat – Former Minister Naledi Pandor
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AI: Transcript ©
Keynote speakers this evening is the former minister
Naledi Pando, and she's going to give us
a quick update as to what's happening at
the moment on her side. Minister, thank you
very much for your time, and what's keeping
you occupied nowadays?
To all the listeners of Radio Islam. Thank
you for this opportunity.
Well, I'm,
trying to keep busy,
because I have,
been a working person for more than 4
decades.
But I'm,
receiving many, many invitations
from all over the world.
There's great interest in the plight of the
people of Palestine
and appreciation for the role that South Africa
and South Africans broadly, particularly the Muslim Ummah
in South Africa,
have played in highlighting,
the important,
need to support
the struggle for freedom and justice of the
people of Palestine.
So I'm continuing,
that program of information
and sharing,
of thoughts about how we campaign,
more effectively and support,
this just cause for freedom.
And then also my area of interest is
always education.
So I will be doing much more in
international
education.
And the 3rd area is, women's empowerment, which
is something
I believe in, very strongly. So,
thus far, I think I'm gonna be extremely
busy.
I'm speaking to other
retirees as well
and learning from them, you know, how they
keep busy. So I've had nice meetings,
with people like Ibrahim Rasool. I've spoken to
other former ministers.
Just checking, you know, what are they doing,
How do you keep,
on stream? Because it's very important,
that you don't just stop,
being active. I think,
you know, when you are a senior citizen,
you must keep the mind,
working
and and
active. Are you hopeful that the government under
the new formation, the JNU, will continue to
pursue the Palestinian cause?
I believe that they will,
Inshallah.
Already, president Ramaphosa has been very clear
on that,
that the policy of South Africa
with respect to the people of Palestine and
all,
people who face colonial oppression,
that this
policy has not changed,
and it will continue to be an important
foreign policy position
of the government of South Africa.
Finally, minister, you said 4 year 4 decades
in the in the field of politics and
activism.
What advice would you give to the younger
leaders that are coming in today?
Well, firstly,
I would ask all of them to try
to be knowledgeable. I think reading
and being,
informed
about the areas or sectors you're interested in
is extremely important because what we don't want,
is populism. You know, just articulating
an idea because it sounds
popular.
Being informed is extremely important, being knowledgeable.
And then I think given where politics is
today,
we need politicians who are honest,
who are committed to the task at hand,
and who ensure that people are serviced. The
worst thing you can do
is
take public money and use it for your
interest.
So we need people who will be totally
committed
to the people that, they agree,
to serve.
Mister, thank you very much for your time.
Much appreciated.
Thank you very much for the opportunity.