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President Cyril Ramaphosa has delivered the keynote address at Freedom Day celebrations at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Today also marks 30 years of democracy for South Africa, with the first ever election for all citizens taking place on 27th April 1994, marking the end of an apartheid state.
Gallery of Freedom Day celebrations:
Images by GCIS
President Ramaphosa started his address by saying, “Exactly thirty years ago on this day, freedom’s bell rang across our great land. It rang in every city, every town and every village. It could be heard in Musina and Thohoyandou in the furthest reaches of the north; in the vast expanses of the Kalahari, the Karoo and the Richtersveld; Komatipoort, Ermelo, Tsitsikamma, Bhisho, Mthatha, Ulundi, Durban and Manguzi on the Eastern Seaboard; in Saldanha, Cape Town and Klein See on the Western Seaboard of South Africa.
The sound of freedom rang in Soweto, in Sharpeville, Soshanguve, Evaton, Botshabelo, Umlazi, Khayelitsha, Mitchell’s Plain and Mangaung. It rang in Kliptown, where the Congress of the People met in 1955 to lay out the vision for a new, free South Africa. It rang here at the Union Buildings, a place that had been a symbol of power and oppression for more than a hundred years.”
The President on reflecting on the first democratic election said that a sense of relief was felt on that historic day.
30 years reflection
The President also reflected on what has been achieved in the country since the dawn of democracy.
He says a lot of work had to be done to undo the injustices of the past.
“Our task over the last 30 years has been to bridge the huge divides of wealth and opportunity in our country – between black and white, between men and women, between urban and rural dwellers.
We have done so not only to correct the injustices of the past, but also so that we may realise the full potential of an economy in which every person has a stake and in which every person has the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution.”
Freedom Day celebrations:
Continue reading...
President Cyril Ramaphosa has delivered the keynote address at Freedom Day celebrations at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Today also marks 30 years of democracy for South Africa, with the first ever election for all citizens taking place on 27th April 1994, marking the end of an apartheid state.
Gallery of Freedom Day celebrations:
Images by GCIS
President Ramaphosa started his address by saying, “Exactly thirty years ago on this day, freedom’s bell rang across our great land. It rang in every city, every town and every village. It could be heard in Musina and Thohoyandou in the furthest reaches of the north; in the vast expanses of the Kalahari, the Karoo and the Richtersveld; Komatipoort, Ermelo, Tsitsikamma, Bhisho, Mthatha, Ulundi, Durban and Manguzi on the Eastern Seaboard; in Saldanha, Cape Town and Klein See on the Western Seaboard of South Africa.
The sound of freedom rang in Soweto, in Sharpeville, Soshanguve, Evaton, Botshabelo, Umlazi, Khayelitsha, Mitchell’s Plain and Mangaung. It rang in Kliptown, where the Congress of the People met in 1955 to lay out the vision for a new, free South Africa. It rang here at the Union Buildings, a place that had been a symbol of power and oppression for more than a hundred years.”
The President on reflecting on the first democratic election said that a sense of relief was felt on that historic day.
30 years reflection
The President also reflected on what has been achieved in the country since the dawn of democracy.
He says a lot of work had to be done to undo the injustices of the past.
“Our task over the last 30 years has been to bridge the huge divides of wealth and opportunity in our country – between black and white, between men and women, between urban and rural dwellers.
We have done so not only to correct the injustices of the past, but also so that we may realise the full potential of an economy in which every person has a stake and in which every person has the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution.”
Freedom Day celebrations:
Continue reading...