As the nation celebrates Freedom Day, President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on citizens to think of those less fortunate than themselves. The President was addressing the nation from Johannesburg.
He says that while some South Africans have a fully stocked fridge and some minor inconveniences due to restrictions on movement, many are battling daily for their very survival.
“This Freedom Day, we find ourselves engaged in a struggle that has thrown into sharp focus the poverty and inequality that still defines our society. The coronavirus pandemic forces us to confront this reality. Though we are certainly all braving the same tide we have not been impacted in the same way by this pandemic.”
Ramaphosa has paid tribute to liberation struggle heroes in his Freedom Day address to the nation.
Monday marks 26 years since the first democratic election in South Africa.
The government is hosting Freedom Day through a virtual broadcast as the country battles COVID-19.
Ramaphosa says the coronavirus pandemic is an opportunity for each South African to realise the dreams of freedom of our forebearers.
“We owe it to the memories of those who came before us to live the values that they cherished values of empathy compassion and solidarity. As we are reminded this Freedom Day, we have known far worse and we have prevailed. Let us keep our arms locked together in a column of defence against this pandemic. Let us use this crisis to reaffirm our resolve to fundamentally change our society.”
Below is the president’s full address:
The theme for the 2020 Freedom Day is “Solidarity and triumph of the human spirit in challenging times.”
The below graphic details the history of South Africa’s Freedom Day:
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