Deputy President David Mabuza has admitted that the indigenous Griqua community, Khoisans and the San communities have not been rightfully recognised.
Mabuza was speaking at the unveiling of the statue of the 19th-century Griqua leader, Adam Kok the Third, located at the entrance of the Greater Kokstad municipal offices in Southern KwaZulu-Natal.
Adam Kok the Third led the group of Griquas who moved from the present-day Northern Cape and settled in the Kokstad area in 1863, becoming the eastern Griquas.
The Kokstad municipality has also renamed its municipal building after him.
“We must thank the leadership of the province under the leadership of the ANC to take this important step to recognise this family- the Griqua family. You are part of this country and today you have reclaimed your space among your people. It will take us time, but we are getting there. You are part of this nation, but all along you have not been recognised.”
Meanwhile, DA leader Mmusi Maimane has urged South Africans to use their diversity to unite the country.
He was speaking to the SABC at the Codesa Walkway in Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg as part of his party’s Heritage Day celebrations.
This is the location where the 1991 multiparty talks, known as Codesa that ended apartheid and gave rise to the new dispensation took place.
Maimane was accompanied by Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga and other leading DA figures.
He says visiting the Codesa site is a stark reminder that when united, South Africans can overcome all their challenges.
Click video below:
