Hon Chairperson, hon members, listening to all the speakers before me, I ask myself: Where is the message of support? It feels like a mockery of the Freedom Day.
On 27 April, South Africans will celebrate Freedom Day, a significant milestone of the struggle for the liberation of the people of South Africa. Freedom Day is about taking stock of gains made 19 years into democracy. This kind of an audit is guided by commitments made by South Africa based on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Freedom Charter of the people of South Africa and last but not least the Women's Charter for Effective Equality.
Nineteen years into democracy, we are proud to observe the level of change that has impacted on the lives of South Africans in a very remarkable way. The change that was and is so inevitable in South Africa is painful, and has as a result not been embraced equally by all sectors of the South African society, even if all sectors have benefited from it in one way or another.
With time, we need to bridge the gap as South Africans to make us a truly one nation. We have experienced high levels of economic growth that has, to a large extent, been disturbed by the economic meltdown and is now in the process of recovering. The infrastructure has also improved, especially in highly industrialised areas to cater for the basic needs of South Africans.
There is a fast economic growth and a high number of migrants that benefit from the state institutions. We have also experienced high volumes of vehicles on the roads, etc, which actually have been addressed by the infrastructure development.
South Africa is much alert to the triple challenges - poverty, unemployment and inequality. Much has been done in this regard in the form of free houses, grants, water, electricity, etc, across the entire nation. With unemployment being one of the biggest challenges, it has become very difficult for a large number of South Africans to sustain themselves away from these safety net measures that the country has introduced. We are hopeful that the business sector will continue to understand that South Africans depend on them and not only on government to create jobs. That is the easiest way of allowing South Africans to share the wealth of the country.
The celebration of Freedom Day is about honouring the sung and unsung heroes and heroines of our struggle under the leadership of the previous presidents of the ANC, John Langalibalele Dube, Sefako Makgatho, Zaccheus Mahabane, Josiah Gumede, Pixley ka Seme, Alfred Xuma, James Moroka, Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and our leader, the President of today and former commander of uMkhonto we Sizwe, President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma.[Applause.] Let us all honour them by becoming a society which reflects the ideals of what they represented, fought and died for.
There is a narrative which is fast gaining momentum in the South African political discourse. It is a narrative which suggests that the imperative of unity and reconciliation is undermined when the past events of apartheid are invoking debates on the present day South Africa.
Our much celebrated icon, Tata Rolihlahla Mandela, once observed that we must preserve the memory of the past in order to guard against repeating its evils. It is all about forgiving and not forgetting. It is important that unity and reconciliation should not be built on forgetfulness. As South Africans, we should instead, within the diversity on which peaceful transformation is based, join hands to tackle the evil legacy of apartheid that continues at times to rear its head.
As we celebrate Freedom Day that signifies the attainment of various forms of liberties by South Africans, we should also continue to celebrate the liberation of women who were also oppressed by apartheid laws. Women need to maintain the momentum of our agenda and activities that promote their liberation to avoid losing the gains made towards the realisation of their political, social and economic freedom. We hail, today, in this regard women such as the late Charlotte Maxeke, who were instrumental in the promotion of the recognition of women by the ANC, which was effected at the 1943 National Conference of the ANC.
Putting it simply; through all their efforts, women like all other South Africans today have what some regarded as something not very important because women were denied it for years, the right to vote - the right to vote that actually makes it possible for them to participate in political processes of the country.
We continue to remember our mothers who fought tirelessly to create a better life for women such as Lillian Ngoyi, Amina Cachalia, Helen Joseph, Sophia de Bruyn, Albertina Sisulu, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and the list goes on. We continue to urge all political parties to consider fair and equal participation of women in their structures, and of course the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill clearly articulates this.
We should not allow our freedom to be undermined by senseless crime and corruption. Corruption in inverted commas because, to a large extent, in some cases, baseless allegations around crime are sometimes actually utilised, which actually confuses the debate on corruption and dealing with corruption in South Africa.
As South Africans, we should volunteer ourselves to work for good causes in our communities, fight against the scourge of violence against women and children and fight the culture of entitlement and dependency that delays development of South Africans. At times, we should even find it necessary to engage in acts that are meant to destroy South African communities.
We should continue to fight areas of complacency in the civil service that are meant to frustrate the delivery of services that are based on the good legislative framework which we have as a country, and that comes from the same Parliament we are talking from. As we celebrate Freedom Day, let us all commit to being patriotic and goodwill ambassadors for our country so as to be judged positively by nations, thus promoting chances of increasing interests in investing in our country.
In its 1992 policy document entitled Ready to Govern, the ANC expounds these fundamental principles where it asserts that our task is to rally all South African patriots around the principles which we have always stood for, namely equality, mutual respect, dignity and the promotion of basic human rights. All of these should happen in the backdrop of the promotion of reconciliation, healing and unity amongst the people of South Africa and not what we are actually hearing this afternoon.
I wish to share in this regard an extract from President Mandela's 1994 election victory speech, which reads as follows:
I hold out a hand of friendship to the leaders of all parties and their members and ask all of them to join us in working together to tackle the problems we face as a nation. An ANC government will serve all the people of South Africa, not just the ANC members. We are looking forward to working together in the government of national unity. It is a clear mandate for action to implement a plan to create jobs, promote peace and reconciliation, and guarantee freedom for all South Africans.
This afternoon, I wish to actually remind all of us about the kind of commitment we agreed on in 1994. We have come a long way; let us not spoil it as South Africans. What we are doing today, is to remind ourselves about the difficult past. Of course some of us are ashamed to be associated with it.
In Tata Mandela's words, we should say, never and never again should we allow our country to experience such atrocities of the past. That is why we regard Freedom Day as a special day, a day that needs to be celebrated by all South Africans as we remember where we come from, and as we carve our way forward towards a better, prosperous South Africa. We call upon all the citizens of our country and the world to join us as we celebrate this day, April 27, Freedom Day of South Africa. I thank you. [Applause.]