25 years since the end of Apartheid in South Africa
5752 Mins Read
It was in 1994 that 46 years of apartheid came to an end and South Africans voted for a new future with a new President Nelson Mandela.
President Cyril Ramaphosa marked Freedom Day at a rally in Makhanda in Eastern Cape province.
“On this day 25 years ago, we founded a new country defined by the principles of equality, unity, non-racialism and non-sexism,” Ramaphosa said. “Despite the passage of time, it is a day we remember vividly – the exhilaration of seeing nearly 20 million South Africans of all races waiting patiently at polling stations around the country to cast their ballots.”
Although a quarter-century ago South Africa’s blacks finally were able to vote, bringing democracy to the country. But long after the brutal apartheid system of racial discrimination, speakers said many still struggle to find a decent life.
“What is the meaning of freedom if many people in a township are unemployed?” asked David Makhura, premier of Gauteng province, which includes South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg, and the capital, Pretoria.
What is the meaning of freedom if you don’t have a job? Or if you don’t have a house or land?” Makhura said the government of the African National Congress party is working to get title deeds for black South Africans: “The land must belong to our people!”
All South Africans must respect the rights of the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex citizens, the premier added, saying many in the LGBTI community still suffer violence and discrimination in their workplaces, in church and elsewhere.
Ramaphosa, who as ANC leader is running for re-election, acknowledged that South Africa has many inequalities that his government must address.
“There are great divisions between rich and poor, between urban and rural, between men and women, between those with jobs and those who are unemployed, between those who own land and those who were deprived of it,” the president said.
“As we celebrate 25 years of democracy, we need to focus all our attention and efforts on ensuring that all South Africans can equally experience the economic and social benefits of freedom.”
