Imtiaz Sooliman – GNU a government of selective unity Imitiaz Sooliman

And someone who's integral to the South African story in the work

that they do, you see them at the site of tragedy. You see them at

the site of suffering in our country. And that is gift of the

givers. And founder, Imtiaz Suleiman joins me today. Imtiaz,

you are one of the people that government thought. We have to

invite you. You have to be here. You have to be part of this

moment. And I think it is in appreciation for the role that you

and your organization and your teams across the country play in

nation building. How does it feel to be here on this morning? It

feels fantastic. Any good event that unites the country, that

brings people together, that brings hope, that brings

positivity, is great for our country. People from diverse

political backgrounds, diverse cultures, are here today and all

today. It's about building relationships, about working

together, finding each other, even though we may have differences, to

find each other and say, You know what? It's our country. We need to

be patriots. We need to look at the difficulties and how to go

forward. I've met ex ministers, DGS, business people, everybody

has the same thought, how do we take the country forward

positively? I mean, that's a great thought to have in this kind of

environment, as the weather is fantastic for for winter, it's a

great day, great sun, and there's so much of happiness and

enthusiasm in the area. I want to steal from what you have just said

around nation building, because a lot of South Africans who didn't

want this outcome might be thinking, where's my place in this

country? Where do I see myself, even politically, when I feel like

my hopes and dreams my wishes have not been realized? And I think

what's important about what you said was it doesn't matter from

which perspective you come. If we have the central vision and

purpose of doing something in taking our country forward, that

is enough and a good enough start. You see, the problem is people

think the country belongs to the government. The country doesn't

belong to the government. They're only administrators of the

country. The country belongs to us, to 65 million people, and we

the ones that make that difference, and we're the ones

that can make the pressure, and we are the ones that have to be

optimistic, and we are the ones that should do something

ourselves. Don't study, don't wait for what the government can do for

you is what you can do for the country. And we have that kind of

collective thinking. If you look at corporates, how to improve the

economy, how to create jobs, street sweeps, street workers. How

can you make the roads cleaner and better the public? Why do you draw

dirt in the drains? And that's why, when you have floods, all the

city gets messed up. All of us have to take responsibility,

because every single one of us is a patriot. And if you work

together, yes, there will be differences. We can never have the

same thoughts, but as long as you overcome and work in a collective

manner and find the right solution, we will solve the

problems of this country. We have some of those high profile

announced arrivals, and we heard there already who's coming into

the venue, approaching the amphitheater, and they are near

the stage, and that is mama grassa Michelle, and we'll see a number

of high profile people, people that we recognize historically,

people who are contemporary political players, people who are

heads of states or deputy heads of states and prime ministers of

their governments. Dr naledi Pando is one of the program directors

here today, the Minister of International Relations and

cooperation. And I know you have a special appeal that you've made

when it comes to her political future. Why do you want it to stay

on?

She's been integral on the Palestinian issue, you know? And

the ICG case was taken forward by her, her team, Ronald Lamola. And

of course, the judges, to me, ANC is the Palestine is part of AnC

policy. It has been there for for several years, from Mandela and

from all the leaders that have come through. To give that up

means to sell your soul, as we blunt and open about it, that to

give up that struggle, no matter what government, what partnership

we have formed, is to sell your soul, because that case was fought

on the basis of humanity, on integrity, on morality and on

values, and to suddenly say we're not going to take that case out,

tells me I can't trust you for now and for the future. It means a

very, very big mistake is being made, because if we lose our

humanity, there's much more we can lose going forward, what should be

happening so that I'm saying it again, Mr. President,

appoint Nele di Pando as the Minister of International

Relationships. In Minister of International Relations, you are

40% in the GNU. You have the strongest say. No smaller party

should stop you from doing that. And I call upon you again, as I

said last week, Wednesday at the tutu foundation, that they should

appoint Nele di Pando as the Minister of International

Relations. Forget the ICG case, forget Palestine. Because of that

itself, it has built such great stature for South Africa, wherever

you go in the world as a tour.

Just as an ordinary person, as a politician, South Africa stands up

like when we had it in 1994 we've lost it along the line, and this

has brought us back in the top of the world amongst every country,

not only governments, but the masses, the universities, the

students, the people, the taxi drivers, the hospitality industry.

We've gone right to the top, once again. That boosts our image. It

brings tourism as a byline. You know, people come to our country,

and people want to learn from our experience. What is your one

prayer from this moment today. Dr Suleyman, I think the government

has made a mistake. I don't think it's the government of national

unity. It's a government of selective unity. And I think, I

don't think I know I'm saying they should bring in the EFF, they

should bring in the Mk, because essentially, it's one guy, it's

one party, Eff, cope, MK, ANC, or one party. This was the liberation

movement. Why have you divided yourselves? Why you split yourself

with that better? We need to overcome the egos, the

differences, and go back to our roots and our values for humanity.

They need to sit together and solve the problems together. In a

quick word, is this one of the biggest mistakes the ANC is making

in this moment? Yes, I don't think the ANC is thinking clearly. I

don't think they're thinking for themselves. I think there's

outside influences thinking for them,

foreign powers, foreign governments, corporates, you know.

And I think the NC Don I think the NC should go back and look at the

friends that they've had. They've been in the trenches. They've done

lots of things together. How can you say it's a government of

national unity and exclude people that were in the trenches with

you? It just doesn't make sense. Dr, MTR, Suleiman, at least we can

always rely on you to speak your mind as you see it. Thank you very

much for talking to us today. I know there's a warm black blanket

that's waiting for you on your chair. Go and get warm and again,

appreciate the work that the organization does.