Hon Speaker, the IFP salutes the bravery of the men and women who selflessly dedicated their lives to protesting against the pass laws in Sharpeville, Orlando, Pretoria, Langa, Durban, East London and other areas on 21 March 1960, under the leadership of the Pan-Africanist Congress, PAC.
These were peaceful, nonviolent protests what were met with brutality by the oppressive National Party government of the time. This is where we have come from as a country; this is how far we have travelled. It has been a long, tedious and painful journey that has nevertheless yielded favourable results to the benefit of all South Africans.
The IFP is proud to have been part of the negotiation process of a peaceful settlement for the new South Africa. The IFP also campaigned for the inclusion of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution.
The freedoms that we enjoy today, entrenched in our Constitution, namely the freedom of expression, the freedom of association and the freedom of religion, belief and opinion are all freedoms and rights that were hard- earned.
The country has gained rights which are also entrenched in our Constitution, such as political rights, the right to life, human dignity, privacy, access to information, justice and so on and so forth. However, these freedoms and rights were hard-earned and we need to ensure that they are treasured dearly by all South Africans, including the rights of people living with disabilities.
As was the case at the time when there was a deafening political silence after the gruesome occurrences in South Africa in the 1960s, the IFP is also proud to have rekindled the political voices and aspirations of millions of South Africans in 1975 for the release of political prisoners, the unbanning of political organisations and the return of political exiles. These conditions put forward the start of many political negotiation processes for the future of South Africa.
The universal principles of human rights are parallel to our democratic values of equality, justice and the rule of law, gender equality and respect for the institutions of democracy. Chapter 9 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa establishes the existence of state institutions to support a constitutional democracy, which operates as checks and balances and the separation of powers.
The important questions that we need to ask ourselves are: Are these institutions, 21 years into our democracy, serving the democratic purpose for which they were established? Do they still operate freely, independently and without any interference? Are the principles of impartiality and transparency still observed? Do they perform their functions without fear, favour or prejudice?
In conclusion, the safeguarding of our human rights is an important contribution to the survival and stability of the many future generations still to come in our country. I thank you.