Words by Akani Nkuna, photos by Eddie Mtsweni
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday used the launch of the Milestones of Freedom programme to warn that South Africa’s democratic journey remains unfinished, saying millions still face hunger, unemployment and crime despite the gains made since apartheid.
Ramaphosa launched the programme at the Union Buildings in Tshwane as the country marks four major anniversaries in its liberation and democratic history: 70 years since the 1956 Women’s March, 60 years since District Six was declared a whites-only area, 50 years since the 1976 Soweto uprising, and 30 years since the adoption of the Constitution.
“Over the course of the next year, our nation will together remember where we have come from. We will honour those who carried us here. And we will renew the promise we made to one another at the dawn of our democracy,” Ramaphosa said.
“In the span of a few short months, the calendar of our history brings together four anniversaries that, woven together, tell a story of who we are as a people.
“They speak of oppression and dispossession, of courage and resistance, and of restoration and rebuilding.”
He said the anniversaries were not only moments of remembrance, but a reminder of the work still required to fulfil the promise of freedom.
“There are still South Africans who go to bed hungry, still young people without work, still communities living in fear of criminals.
“There are still South Africans waiting for the dignity that freedom promised.
“We do not gather here to declare that our long walk to freedom is complete.”
The president said the Milestones of Freedom programme would honour the sacrifices of those who resisted apartheid while calling on South Africans to confront the country’s current challenges.
Seventy years after the 1956 Women’s March, Ramaphosa paid tribute to the women who gathered at the Union Buildings to protest against pass laws.
“Seventy years ago, on the 9th of August 1956, in the very place that we gather today, some 20,000 women of every colour and creed converged to demand an end to injustice and discrimination,” he said.
“They came to say to the apartheid state, in a single defiant voice, that they would not carry the hated dompas.
“They stood in silence for thirty minutes. And then they sang the words that have echoed through the decades: Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo. You strike the women, you strike a rock.”
Ramaphosa also spoke about the forced removals from District Six, saying the declaration of the Cape Town community as a whites-only area in 1966 remained one of the starkest examples of apartheid dispossession.
“Sixty years ago, in February 1966, the apartheid government declared District Six in Cape Town a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act.
“In the years that followed, more than 60,000 people were torn from their homes, their shops, their mosques and their churches, and scattered across the Cape Flats.”
He said District Six was part of a broader pattern of forced removals across the country, including Sophiatown and Cato Manor.
Turning to the 1976 uprising, Ramaphosa said the youth of Soweto had helped change the course of South African history.
“Fifty years ago, on the 16th of June 1976, the children of Soweto walked out of their classrooms and into history.
“They were schoolchildren who refused to be taught in the language of their oppressor. They refused to bend their knee to a system designed to keep them in servitude.
“Their peaceful protest was answered with teargas, bullets, arrest and torture.”
Ramaphosa said the Constitution, adopted on 8 May 1996, was the democratic inheritance of generations who had fought pass laws, forced removals and Bantu Education.
“The Constitution begins with the words: ‘We, the people of South Africa.’
“In doing so, the Constitution reaffirms the fundamental principle that this country belongs to all who live in it, black and white, united in our diversity.”
The president said South Africa had made significant progress since 1994, including expanding access to electricity, water, housing, clinics, schools, social grants and free basic services.
“Since the dawn of democracy, millions who lived in darkness now have electricity.
“Millions who carried water from distant rivers now have clean water flowing from a tap. Together, we have built millions of homes and thousands of clinics and schools.”
He said women had moved into leadership positions in government, the courts, universities, boardrooms and other areas of national life, but said the fight against gender-based violence and femicide remained central to the country’s unfinished freedom project.
“We have placed the fight against gender-based violence and femicide at the centre of our national agenda, because a country where women are not safe is a country that is not yet free.”
Ramaphosa said government would continue with land restitution and redistribution, while working to grow the economy, fix the energy supply crisis, rebuild ports and railways, and back small businesses and entrepreneurs.
“An economy that is inclusive and growing – that reaches every township and village – is the surest instrument we have against poverty.
“An economy that creates jobs, particularly for young people, is the greatest guarantor of a secure and prosperous future.”
He said government was also working to confront crime and corruption, rebuild law enforcement institutions and pursue those who stole public money.
“We are pursuing those who stole from the people, because money looted through corruption is money taken from a clinic, a classroom, a child.”
Ramaphosa ended his address by calling on South Africans to become active citizens, take part in the National Dialogue and register to vote during the voter registration weekend on 20 and 21 June.
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