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Happy 20th birthday free South Africa! – Zuma

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President Jacob Zuma used the occasion of the country’s official Freedom Day celebrations as an opportunity to not only look at achievements of the past 20 years, but also to warn against electioneering detracting from those gains.

“I am sure you all agree with me that working together in the past 20 years and the past five years, we have made South Africa a much better place to live in. We should congratulate ourselves for all this hard work. We must not deny or downplay these achievements, regardless of our political differences or contestation at any given time, including the election period. Our country has done well. We all have a good story to tell,” said the President.

Freedom Day marks the commemoration of South Africa’s first democratic elections.

President Zuma on Sunday quoted the late President Nelson Mandela’s words at the time: “Mr President, I have come to report to you that South Africa is free today”.

In his speech, Zuma touched on achievements in the arenas of labour, women’s rights, children’s rights and education, and the defence force’s achievements.

“We salute the workers for their sterling contribution in the struggle for liberation,” said the President. “Today we celebrate the hard-won rights of workers, including workplace organising, collective bargaining, equal pay for equal work, health and safety, skills development, minimum wages for workers in vulnerable sectors, the right to strike, and the right to peaceful protest.”
With regards to gender representivity he said: “Today we celebrate the institutional mechanisms that have been established to protect women’s rights and dignity…We are celebrating the fact that more girls are in school and tertiary education than ever before, meaning that we are making progress in breaking the cycle of marginalisation.”

He went on: “Today we also celebrate the contribution of the youth in the struggle for liberation in our country. Generations of South African youth worked tirelessly to dismantle apartheid colonialism. Inspired by the commitment of our youth to building a prosperous future, we have committed ourselves to invest in education and the empowerment of our young people and to improve their lives.”

In closing, the President said: “Happy 20th birthday free South Africa! Happy freedom day to all!”

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