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President Zuma opens Reconciliation Bridge

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President Jacob Zuma has opened a multi-million rand bridge connecting two symbolic sites depicting Boer and Zulu monuments to symbolise reconciliation.

The cultural monuments depict the so-called battle of Blood River which happened on December 16, 1838.

Zuma spoke at the national Reconciliation Day event at Ncome in KwaZulu-Natal. He says reconciliation is not an event, but a process.

“Reconciliation also does not mean forgetting or trying to bury the painful history of conflict. It means that while we remember the pain of the past we will not allow it to stop us from building a better tomorrow,” he says.

Speaking on the history of Reconciliation Day, Zuma said before 1994, the day had different meanings for different people. “For some it was a symbol of triumph, for others the symbol of resistance and pain, or alternatively a bitter potent experience,” he explains.

Generations to come will testify that people who lived through this period of transition were a truly wonderful and remarkable generation.

The idea of reconciliation was introduced in the South African government after the 1994 elections, by including leaders from opposition parties into the Cabinet to form a national unity. Zuma says: “This was one of the most difficult undertakings in the history of humankind.”

Officially opening the reconciliation bridge, Zuma says the bridge carries significance to Zulu and Afrikaners to commemorate the historical day together instead of on opposite sides of the river.

“Generations to come will testify that people who lived through this period of transition were a truly wonderful and remarkable generation to have been able to overcome fear, hatred and pain to build a new non-racial future,” he says.

Photo: The new Reconciliation Bridge, photo by Nina Oosthuizen.

Read President Zuma’s speech in its entirety below.

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