WeeklySA_AdminPaint: South Africa’s detractors are trying their utmost to paint a false picture about this country
By Monk Nkomo
South Africa would never find true reconciliation as long as the majority of black people still lived in poverty and inequality, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Addressing a large crowd on Reconciliation Day at Ncome museum in the Local Nquthu municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, Ramaphosa added : ‘’ Our pursuit of inclusive economic growth and job creation , our efforts to reduce poverty and bring down the cost of living , are essential for reconciliation.’’
The President also lashed at South Africa’s detractors – inside and outside the country – who were trying their utmost to paint a false picture of South African people which was designed to sow fear and hatred amongst the communities.
‘’ They do not tell us what the surveys say : That the majority of South Africans are hopeful about the state of our democracy . They do not tell us that the majority of South Africans believe race relations have improved since 1994. They do not share pictures of African, White, Indian and Coloured children learning and studying together. They do not talk about the friendships, neighbourliness and kindness shown by black and white people towards each other.’’
Ramaphosa added : ‘’ We must not allow them succeed in this effort. If we continue and together we build our nation as South Africans, there will be no one who will be able to plant the seed of discrimination and exclusiveness amongst us. Our democracy was built on reconciliation.’’
South Africans bore the scars of centuries of dispossession and oppression, of resistance being met with batons and bullets, said Ramaphosa.
The former oppressors tried to turn South Africans against each other , fomenting violence, terror and instability that tore communities apart. The KwaZulu-Natal province knew this pain all too well. The people of this province experienced decades of political violence in the 1980s and 1990s that destroyed families and led to the loss of many lives.
The majority of South Africans were victims of a political order that denied them their humanity. And yet, at the dawn of democracy, they did not choose vengeance or retribution. ‘’ Where others wanted to break, they chose to build. Where others wanted to sow division, they chose reconciliation.’’
Ramaphosa added : ‘’ We chose the path of reconciliation because we envisioned a society where the children of the former oppressor and the oppressed could live together, side by side, without fear.
In 1994, we restored what apartheid tried to break : the dignity of every South African man, woman and child.’’
They celebrated Reconciliation Day in eNcome this year, not to open old wounds, but to reaffirm their promise to the future generations that South Africa shall never again be divided by hatred, injustice or exclusion.
The President reminded the nation about the Battle of Ncome on December 16, 1838 when nearly 3000 brave warriors perished in battle in defence of their ancestral land. They were the bravest of the bravest who fought to defend their land, their rights and their sovereignty. There was also The Bambatha Rebellion, The Bulhoek massacre, The1946 Mineworkers strike, Sharpeville, Langa, Cato Manor, Western Deep Levels, The Trojan Horse massacre, Sebokeng and Boipatong.
‘’ Together, we have overcome great challenges but still a lot remains to be done’’.
Ramaphosa lamented about the high crime rate and said the country could not be reconciled as a people if its communities were terrorised by criminals and deprived of what was due to them by corrupt officials.
A nation that was at peace with itself, could also not be built for as long as violence against women and children continued.
Turning to the serious problem of unemployment in the country, Ramaphosa urged both the government and private sector to tackle unemployment , especially amongst the youth, in a different way. Young people should not have to cast their eyes to big cities for better opportunities. Jobs must be created in the rural towns and villages.
The President also called on real men to protect women and children against abusive men. ‘’ Real men do not abuse women and children. In our culture, killing a woman ws abominable. Not only did such a killing take her life but the lives of all the children she was still going to give birth to.’’
