President Cyril Ramaphosa has encouraged South Africans to not criticise the choices that Nelson Mandela made during his fight against apartheid.
Ramaphosa was giving the keynote address on the balcony of the Cape Town City Hall, where Madiba addressed thousands of people on this day in 1990.
Ramaphosa says that today South Africa is faced with many challenges that makes its citizens to lose trust in its government.
The President reflected on the historic day which marked the release of the former statesman from prison.
The speech is one of several events to mark the 30th anniversary of his release from the then Victor Verster Prison in Paarl.
Ramaphosa stood next to the struggle icon when he made his first speech as a free man after spending 27 years in jail. Ramaphosa says the entire world was focussed on South Africa.
CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation Sello Hatang says the likes of Trevor Manuel and even Mandela’s driver will be reminiscing about this day, 3 decades ago.
“And these prisons of Africa, we’re looking at prisons most figuratively and literally. What have we done with the democracy and independence that we’ve had as the African continent? We then have the president ending off the day who will address a crowd at exactly the time Madiba walked out of prison just out of three he will then be addressing us on from freedom to liberation.”
‘Historical occasion’
The Foundation says today marks an immensely historical occasion that celebrates the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the hard-won freedom South Africans enjoy today.
Today also marks the thirtieth anniversary of the unbanning of political parties in South Africa and the defeat of Apartheid.
The Foundation says the commemorations are designed to foster critical thought and reflection, and thereby inspire greater social cohesion by reminding South Africans and the world that the country overcame Apartheid as a nation and therefore, are capable of overcoming our current struggles.
