Democracy restored the dignity of South Africans

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the advent of democracy in South Africa 30 years ago allowed all South Africans to reclaim their dignity.

The President was addressing the nation through his weekly newsletter on Monday.

On Saturday, 27 April, South Africa celebrated 30 years of democracy when millions of South Africans – most voting for the first time – cast their vote in 1994 to remove the racist apartheid government from power.

This as the President led the 2024 Freedom Day national celebrations at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Saturday.

“At times of difficulty in the life of our nation, some have found themselves tempted to question whether life has really been better under democracy. For all who experienced apartheid, there can be no doubt that democracy has restored the dignity of every South African,” the President said in the newsletter.

He called apartheid and its “bureaucratic pettiness” a “national humiliation”.

“[27 April 1994] was the day on which the country turned its back on apartheid. Beyond the great wrong that was apartheid, it was a system designed to deny people their dignity.

“This national humiliation and degradation ranged from bureaucratic pettiness like whites-only benches, restaurants and beaches, to the brute force that saw families torn apart and forcibly moved from their houses and land. People were tortured, imprisoned, exiled and killed. The so-called solution of ‘separate development’ resulted in nothing but underdevelopment for the country’s majority,” he explained.

Children of democracy

President Ramaphosa expressed joy at how people born after 1994 exude confidence “secure in the knowledge that their dignity is both respected and protected”.

“Democracy’s children are self-assured about their human rights, in their citizenship, of their role and place in society, and of their own potential.

“During apartheid, Bantu education was served up to the country’s black majority as a reminder that there was no place for them ‘above the level of certain forms of labour’. In South Africa today, equal access to quality education has enabled black children to become CEOs of companies, professors, engineers, and fighter pilots.

“Young South Africans, our nation’s future, are making their mark in the workplace, in arts, culture and music, in academia, in the high-growth tech and IT sectors, and in serving their communities,” he said.

The President said a great sense of gratitude engulfs him when observing those South Africans born post-1994.

“I am grateful that they will never have to endure the humility and indignity of previous generations, of being forced to sit on separate park benches, dispossessed of their land, denied opportunities for advancement and of being pariahs in the land of their birth,” he said.

Moving forward

Reflecting on the journey to rebuilding the nation, President Ramaphosa acknowledged that “we are not as far as we had hoped to be”.

He added that while government has done much to unravel apartheid’s legacy, many local and global challenges have hampered progress.

“In recent years, as we sought to recover from more than a decade of low growth and the era of state capture, our progress was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the loss of more than 100 000 lives in our country and caused the greatest contraction of our economy in decades.

“The public unrest in July 2021 and the catastrophic floods in parts of the country the following year led to further loss of life and destruction of property and infrastructure.

“While these events severely hampered our collective efforts to rebuild the country, they also showed the resilience of the South African people. Despite these great difficulties, we have persevered with the task of reform and recovery, to grow an inclusive economy and create jobs,” he said.

The President said government remains committed to resolving the challenges that the country faces.

“We have continued to work together to overcome the crises of unemployment, poverty, inequality and underdevelopment. These challenges impact on the lives of millions of people and undermine the dignity that we have worked throughout our democracy to restore.

“And yet we maintain our resolve to move forward with optimism. We have come a long, long way. And we are determined to go further to achieve the free, just and equal South Africa for which millions voted on Freedom Day 30 years ago,” President Ramaphosa said. – SAnews.gov.za