House Chairperson, hon members, it is altogether fitting and proper that we commemorate the fateful events that took place in Sharpeville on 21 March 1960, where the South African Police opened fire on unarmed people who were marching peacefully against repressive pass laws. They injured and killed many of them.
Former President Thabo Mbeki's speech, "I am an African", aptly summarises the courage of our people during the struggle for liberation when he says:
I am born ... of a people who would not tolerate oppression. I am of a nation that would not allow that fear of death, torture, imprisonment, exile or persecution should result in the perpetuation of injustice.
Human Rights Day should serve as a reminder of how courageously we as the people fought for all the rights and freedoms we now enjoy. Our people's fight for liberation was in line with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1, as adopted on 10 December 1948, which says:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
We are often flabbergasted by the extent to which many among us very so often take the freedoms and rights we enjoy for granted.
Human rights and the freedoms that underpin our democratic society depend on a culture of tolerance. It was sad to see President Zuma, our Head of State, failing to intervene or strongly condemn the shocking intolerance demonstrated by a section of ANC supporters when they booed the ID leader, the hon Patricia de Lille, during her speech at Athlone Stadium during the Human Rights Day commemoration on Monday this week. Why should our hard- earned democracy ... Thank you. [Time expired.]