

MEDIA STATEMENT
DATE: |
19 MARCH 2004 |
TO |
ALL MEDIA |
ATTENTION: |
NEWS EDITORS / TRANSPORT REPORTERS |
DULLAH OMAR INTERCHANGE FOR KWAZULU-NATAL
The Roads Board is currently processing a request by the KwaZulu-Natal
Department of Transport to rename the E.B Cloete Interchange, commonly
known as Spaghetti Junction next to the Pavillion Shopping Centre in
Durban, as the Dullah Omar Interchange.
This announcement was made by KZN MEC for Transport S'bu Ndebele last
night at a memorial service for the late Dr. Abdullah Omar in Durban.
"Henceforth those who enter Durban from the West will pause and know
that South Africa is today non-racial and democratic, thanks to the huge
contribution of Dullah Omar. Those who enter from the South will pause at
the Dullah Omar Interchange and reflect on the fact that our roads are
safe thanks to the tireless road safety campaigns Dullah Omar pioneered.
Those who enter from the North, from the South and from the West will say
it is now becoming safe to travel in a taxi because Dullah Omar strived to
establish peace in the taxi industry," Ndebele said.
Paying tribute to Omar Ndebele said that it was difficult to say
farewell to a dear friend and comrade who had long been a pillar of
strength and paragon of humbleness. "How do you even start saying
farewell to someone who you wish might have lived for ever? This is the
situation I find myself in today as all of us grapple with the reality of
Minister Dullah Omar's death," said Ndebele.
"A gallant revolutionary, a visionary, a dedicated patriot and a
people's Minister, who had a passion for working at the grassroots and
improving the lives of the poor. Comrade Dullah Omar was a humble but
fearless champion of human rights with a great sense of service to all the
people of South Africa over many decades, and his death came at the end of
the term of the current Government whose mandate he sought to see through.
Having said that the question we have to ask ourselves is, how can we
ensure that we continue the legacy of Comrade Omar? How can we ensure that
we keep his memory to all our future generations? Let us not be
overwhelmed by guilt feelings for we can still be like him by ensuring
that the gains he has made for us are not reversed by apathy, inactivity
and intolerance - things comrade Dullah detested in life," Ndebele
said.
Hundreds of people, including Omar's son Rustum Omar, members of the
provincial legislature, and representatives from local government, NGO's
and the transport fraternity attended the memorial.
back
|