Ke a leboga Motlatsa Mmusakgotla, Maloko a Palamente. [Thank you, Deputy Speaker, hon members.]
Dankie, mnr Groenewald. [Thank you, Mr Groenewald.]
We are gathered here 18 years after the dawn of our freedom, which occurred in 1994. The 27th of April marks a historic moment in our country's calendar of national events, as all South Africans were afforded the opportunity for the first time to cast their vote and elect a government of their choice.
Indeed, we are celebrating our freedom that was attained through struggle, determination and selfless sacrifice. Many of our heroes and heroines paid the ultimate price and, unfortunately, they did not survive to witness the freedom that we are enjoying today. It is also a day to pay tribute to the stalwarts of our struggle who include, among others, Oliver Reginald Tambo, Solomon Mahlangu and Lillian Ngoyi. The legacy that we have had to deal with in the past 18 years of our democracy can be described when we examine a speech made in the Senate of Parliament in 1953 by the then Minister of Native Affairs, who later became the Prime Minister of the Republic, Hendrick Verwoerd, when he said:
The native will be taught from childhood to realise that equality with Europeans is not for him. There is no place for the Bantu child above the level of certain forms of labour. Until now he has been subjected to a school system which drew him away from his community and misled him by showing him green pastures of European society in which he was not allowed to graze.
The point is not to focus on the warped character of Verwoerd, but to contend that the current South African society of rising unemployment, deepening poverty and widening inequality is the realisation of an intention to benefit a certain race while prejudicing others. It is therefore very transparent when representatives - although they will strenuously deny this - of the late Verwoerd not only conspicuously consume their benefactors' tainted legacy, but tacitly and expressly strain to ensure that the legacy devolves to the descendants, albeit in a modified form.
With regard to equality, we will not be content with the notion of being equal bearers of human rights, but we will work hard to achieve equality of outcomes using all possible measures, including positive discrimination and the substantive equality we seek as provided for in section 9(2) of our Constitution.
During these 18 years we were able to consolidate and deepen our democratic system and have introduced critical programmes and policies for our social and economic transformation. The progress we have made is commendable and holds out the promise of faster progress towards our ideals, thanks to the ANC. However, we are only at the beginning of a protracted process of change.
As a country we have entered our second decade of freedom with the strengthening of democracy and acceleration of the programmes to improve the quality of life of all people. Steadily, the dark cloud of the white minority and political domination is receding into a distant memory.
Therefore, as we celebrate freedom, we need to work together for the prosperity of all. This work has to be done in the spirit of the Freedom Charter in pledging that, together as one nation, united in our diversity, sparing neither strength nor courage, we will engage in the battle until we win the war against the troika of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
Indeed, we have also progressed in putting policies in place, such as the New Growth Path and the Industrial Policy Action Plan. We are intending to build roads, rails, dams and ports over the next decade, through which we will also be able to reduce both unemployment and the poverty of our people.
Maloko a Palamente, re le mmuso o o eteletsweng pele ke mokgatlho wa ANC, re a dumela gore ga re a dira go tlala seatla, mo go neeleng batho ba rona ditlhokego tsotlhe tse ba di tlhokang, go tshwana le metsi, motlakase, matlo le go lwantsha bonokwane.
Re a itse gore batho ba kwa metseselegaeng ga ba sa tlhole ba fudugela kwa ditoropong go batla ditiro, ke ka moo re le mmuso o o eteletseng pele ke ANC, re netefatsa gore re tla dira ka botswapelo le boineelo gore re tlise ditirelo kwa bathong le kwa metseselegaeng ya rona. Re nt?hafaditse maikano a rona le set?haba gore re tla lwantsha botlhokatiro le go fedisa lehuma le tlala mo set?habeng sa Aforika Borwa. (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)
[Hon members, as the ANC-led government, we agree that we have not done much to fight crime, neither in ensuring that the most needed basic services such as water, electricity, and housing are delivered to our people.
We are aware that there is no longer migration of people from rural areas to urban areas in search of employment; hence as the ANC-led government, we are committing ourselves to working diligently in ensuring that we bring basic services to the rural areas and to our communities. We have also renewed our pledge to the nation that we will fight crime, and eradicate poverty and hunger among our fellow South Africans.]
We call on all our patriots, black and white, young and old, here at home and abroad, to heed the call of the Freedom Charter, to spare neither strength nor courage and to join all those people who love their country, including those on my left, in building a South Africa that truly belongs to all. Hon members, let us mobilise the masses of our people, not because we want them to vote for us, but because our interest is to empower them so that they can participate in their own development. Desist from treating victims of apartheid as charity cases that you can call names as and when you wish.
The troika of unemployment, poverty and inequality is a reality. These challenges that we are confronted with affect all of us and need all of us to work together in order to achieve more.
In celebrating this Freedom Day the ANC will continue to enjoy the courage to stand against impediments in its noble endeavours and uncover the veil of social ills that have tormented our nation. We dare not fail, and we will surely overcome. Ke a leboga. [Thank you.] [Applause.]