The presence of the African National Congress and the Zimbabwe African People's Union resulted in co-operation between the Rhodesian and South African security forces in arresting cadres returning from Zambia. Kaunda played an important role in assisting Oliver Tambo to set up an ANC office in Lusaka. Zambia became the home of the ANC for more than a decade. This bolster the work of the ANC as part of the broader liberation

movement which sought to put an end to white minority rule in South Africa. A man of peace, indeed, Kaunda became instrumental in the initiation of a series of meetings from late 1984 onwards between the exile ANC and groupings from within South Africa. The process for white groupings including prominent Afrikaners and big business men, but also representatives of antiapartheid organisations for the first time initiating contact with the liberation movement.

The meetings led to the eventual dissolution of the forms of prohibition place on the liberation movements and their eventual return and democratic elections in 1994. Later in 1989, when Tambo collapsed suffering from a stroke Kaunda intervened by organising a plane that carried him from Lusaka to London. Kaunda's role in South Africa's liberation struggle runs very, very deep. As early as 1964, he sought to persuade the apartheid government to release Nelson Mandela and other prisoners. One of the options he sought was for Mandela and his colleagues to be imprisoned in Zambia rather than in South Africa.

It is no wonder that after his release from prison in 1990, Mandela's first destination outside of South Africa was Zambia. In December 2002, Kaunda was awarded the Order of the

Companions of O R Tambo. This is the highest award that the country can be bestow on its citizens of foreign nationals by South African government. He was also awarded the Ubuntu Award by the National Heritage Council in 2007, for his role in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. To continue with occasion as a peace broker in 1991, Kaunda founded the Kenneth Kaunda Peace Foundation dedicated to the establishment of peace and conflict resolution on the continent.

K K left us with many lessons on leadership. He believed in the existence of a clear vision and that to achieve the vision one needs to stay resolute and demonstrate as much as possible the qualities of what he or she seeks to achieve, and importantly to work hard and not tired in the pursuit of the common good. Nze K K was a man of integrity, a visionary. His passing is a painful loss to the African continent. His life was the embodiment of the philosophy of ubuntu, botho, that speaks to the universal bond of caring and sharing that connects all of humanity. This was his trademark. It is thus fitting that President Cyril Ramaphosa directed that the national flags be flown at half-mast at all flag stations as a tribute to this fallen hero.

We commend the President's decisions to honour President Kenneth K K Kaunda in this way. A genuine expression of our national gift at the passing of the love and rightfully revered father of the African Independents and unity. May his family and the people of Zambia find strength in the fact that President Kaunda helped to liberate many, many, more people well beyond the borders of his own country. We are with the family during this period of mourning. We are with the people of Zambia during this difficult period. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

Mr MNHANHA: Thank you very much Deputy Chairperson. Hon. members, firstly I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my leader in the NCOP, hon. Cathy Labuschagne and the DA contingent in the NCOP, for showing confidence in me to deliver on behalf of my party, to deliver an oration of condolences on the passing of His Excellency Kenneth K K Kaunda, the first postcolonial era President of the Republic of Zambia. It is indeed my singular honour and privilege. Today's the theme says and I quote:

Paying tribute to a fallen African giant who remained in the forefront of the fight for liberation in Africa.