Nomaindiya Mfeketo

"We were forced to learn each and every language or syllabus in Afrikaans, doing maths in Afrikaans and doing biology in Afrikaans, doing everything."

"Definitely the voice of the women have continued to prevail"

"There's lots of improvement, but I must still say there is much, much more to be done because we still have, certain things that, undermine the effort that is being made by women"

"Working in an environment where President Mandela was president of the country was very exciting"

"It is our time to assist in whatever we can and not necessarily being back, but creating a better world for everybody"

"I think for each and every woman, what happened in the last election, the first Black woman, being elected as a deputy president. It's something that we are very excited about"

"We urge efficient use of this emergency fund to alleviate the plight of our people in the face of unfortunate circumstances such as fires, floods and other natural disasters"

"We continue to call on banks to help increase access to home loans in order to close the gap for this important sector of workers across all industries"

"Since 1994, the dawn of democracy brought along a new determination by the democratic government. Ours was to restore human dignity from a long history of brutal oppression"

"The time is now to cement social cohesion to further strengthen us as a people to weather these recent waves of racist torrents"

"We are yet to truly see our unity in our diversity, first as a country and also as a continent, a continent that humanity in its entirety, calls home"

"The so-called born-frees are standing up, saying not in our name, not a minute longer."

"This generation assert their African identities and are actualizing our clarion call of a united Africa, at peace with itself"

"As leaders of society, we can draw many lessons from the younger generation to pursue radically different futures for Africa than its current state of dependency on the dominant economies"

"Our biggest cultural export to the world of diplomacy is Ubuntu"

"The majority of the conflicts the UN Security Council deals with, are in this continent"

"Through the African Union, we have worked tirelessly to see that dominant economies do not dictate to us on how to solve our problems"

"We all know that where conflicts burst, the attack on women and children remains one of the most potent weapons"

"The war on our bodies as women must take first priority in this continent"

"The progress of women is the best measure of societal progress"

"Ubuntu as a guiding principle of our cultural and economic diplomacy, echoing Agenda 2063’s Principle 6, will best be achieved with women at the centre as champions of Africa’s development"

"Peace, security and stability can never be fostered in this world without the position of women being significantly improved first through economic empowerment and safety in our bodies"

"I would like us to remember to work tirelessly for justice so that when we are honoured - we are also celebrated as national heritage"

"We are in a good position to work out solutions that befit postcolonial societies"

"We are in a good position to work out solutions that befit postcolonial societies. We need to revive the agency of the people to be masters of their destiny"

"South Africa has lessons to offer, by no means perfect, and we have so many lessons to learn from other countries in the continent may we learn from the mistakes of others in reconstructing our countries towards the future we desire"

"We stand on the shoulders of cultural icons who fought for the liberation of the most oppressed people in the world in Africa"

"When we speak about heritage, we speak about legacy"

"We will not always be right, we must be open to criticism, even when it seems harsh, there are lessons to be drawn always"

"My wish is that we do not resign our people only to raise grievances but to also use their agency to collectively work towards a common future and truly give a sense of place, security and dignity to redress the human wrongs of our past to human rights of the future"

"We seek to pursue our objective of a better life for all."

"The pressing need to concentrate on the present does not, and must not, imply disregard for the future"