Simon Nare
President Cyril Ramaphosa has committed the Government of National Unity to decisively deal with corruption and vowed that those who have looted and crippled government institutions will be dealt with.
Delivering the keynote address to celebrate Freedom Day in the Free State on Monday, Ramaphosa appealed to the nation to rally around defeating corruption in government, saying there were companies who get tenders, take the money, and leave projects unfinished.
These will be dealt with, promised Ramaphosa.
“These people are given money to conduct certain projects and they run away without finishing such projects. There are many of those here in the Free State where such projects are not finished,” said Ramaphosa.
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The president in a reconciliatory tone also appealed to the nation to be tolerant of the fellow Africans who he said helped the country by accommodating the freedom fighters during the struggle days.
“We should never allow the legitimate concerns of our communities about illegal migration to breed prejudice towards our fellow Africans. We must not allow these concerns to give rise to xenophobia, directed towards people from other African countries or other any parts of the world,” he said.
The president reminded the nation that 32 years ago on this day, the country went to the polls to elect its first democratic president and ushered in a new era.
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“It was a celebration of the human spirit and its capacity to overcome adversity. It is an honour to mark this occasion here in Bloemfontein, where the flame of freedom was lit.
“It was here in Mangaung that the African National Congress was born in 1912, bringing together for the first time people from across our country to stand against oppression and dispossession,” he said.
Ramaphosa said out of the country’s struggle came freedom through the Constitution that had an unshakable foundation.
“Out of struggle came freedom; through our Constitution we have entrenched it as the unshakable foundation of our nation.”
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“There was a time in this country when freedom was not a right but a dream. It was a time when voices were silenced, dignity was denied to millions who were excluded from the life of the country they called home. But our people refused to accept that fate.” Ramaphosa said.
“They organised. They resisted. They endured. And they won their freedom.
And in that struggle, they made a simple but powerful declaration. The people of South Africa shall be free and that South Africa belongs to all who live in it,” he said.
The president called on the nation to unite and to build communities, homes, schools, and workplaces that were safe and secure as he called for the country to reflect, renew, and reaffirm the country’s social contract.
“Let us protect it. Let us uphold it. Let us live by it.
And so, as we reflect on how far we have come, and as we look to the future, we must still build, let us remember this:
“The freedom we enjoy today was not handed to us – it was fought for by our people and secured forever by our Constitution,” he said.
The president’s commitment comes in the wake of revelations of widespread corruption in the South African Police Service in the Madlanga Commission which has led to the nabbing of and court appearance of suspended National Police Commissioner General Fanie Masemola, among others.
