It is with a sense of great honour, humility and priviledge that we are gathered here in Kliptown, in Soweto, to celebrate our National Human Rights Day. Gathered here 57 years ago were people from across the length and breadth of our country, from all walks of life, young and old, black and white, to discuss and adopt the Freedom Charter, of what was to become a blue print of a future democratic society. It is no coincidence that those noble values, firstly adopted as part of the 1943 African Claims and later the 1955 Freedom Charter, today constitute the golden thread as text and spirit of our beloved Constitution and cornerstone of our democracy. It was against this historic backdrop that the decision to celebrate Human Rights Day this year was taken to bring this event at this historic site in the struggle to bring about human rights, justice, democracy and prosperity for all our people. Human Rights are indivisible across the spectrum of our population, hence we must ensure that the values of the struggle for justice that saw our people massacred with impunity in Sharpeville, Langa and elsewhere are actually embraced by the entire nation as a whole and not limited to the particular place where they historically occurred.
Chapter 2 of our Constitution, dedicated to the Bill of Rights, speaks volume about our collective desire to instill a culture of human rights as an inalienable right for all citizens. It is no doubt that this chapter is the core of our Constitution and by extension of our democracy as a whole. For this reason, we celebrate this day without fail every year, so that we can inculcate the spirit of Constitutionalism underpinned by Human Rights for all, so that amongst others the youth in particular must embrace these important values from a young age.
As we are gathered here today, we are inspired by the role that over the years the people of Soweto have played, always in the forefront for the liberation struggle led by the African National Congress. The 1976 Student Uprising that started here in Soweto and became synonymous with this great township further put our overall struggle on the world map. The name “South West Township” whose acronym Soweto became the more popular variant, was no longer a mere direction of where blacks in and around Johannesburg were located by the system of apartheid, but this place became a political pointer on the direction of the struggle for political freedom. The history of Soweto boasts of luminaries such as former President Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Winnie Madikizela Mandela and countless others. It also boasts of the two greatest national soccer derbies, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, whose games as recently as last weekend continue to put South Africa on the continental and world map. This sprawling township is home to various institutions, including churches, that were in the forefront of the struggle against racial oppression in South Africa. It boasts also of countless heroes and heroines in various artistic professions such as in poetry, music, film and many more. Who would forget business pioneers such as Richard Maponya, whose business exploits have since seen the biggest mall in Soweto named after him! It is indeed a great township with a great people that have in various capacities dominated the South African political, economic and social scenes.
We are indeed glad that today we are assembled here, amongst others to listen to the President of a free and democratic South Africa addressing us at the same place where congregated in 1955 was the historic Congress of the People that had met to adopt the Freedom Charter. Unlike in 1960 when the Police were instructed by the apartheid regime to open fire on defenseless protestors, our President is not here to threaten us to disperse, but to tell us how far we have come to ensure human rights are enjoyed by all our people without exception, and also to note the outstanding challenges that we have to deal with in our economy so that these human rights are meaningful in the lived experiences of all and sundry.
As you already know, this year’s Human Rights Day coincides with the centenary of the African National Congress. The ANC’s centenary celebrations have invoked the memory of the various generations of our people hailing from various organised political and social formations across our country, all united by the common struggle against colonial and racial oppression. Amongst our resolve is to ensure that our people learn more about the various organisations, personalities and leaders who were pivotal during the struggle against apartheid and to ensure human rights are ultimately entrenched in our constitution. The President has been in the forefront of presenting lectures on the history of our struggle, particularly with a focus on the roles by all the Presidents of the ANC in the past 100 years.
By celebrating the historical milestones attained by the various organisational and individual role players who championed our struggle for democracy, we do so to refresh the memory of our people and also provide lessons to the up and coming generations, so that all of us as well as posterity must never forget how we attained the freedoms and rights that we enjoy today. It was through pain and agony, suffering imprisonment, banishment into exile and even death that we attained political freedom.
Allow me to take this opportunity to briefly introduce our keynote speaker today.
In his many and various capacities over the years, while serving both the ANC and our people at large, President Zuma was trusted by former ANC President OR Tambo, together with former President Thabo Mbeki, with the critical task to spearhead what was known as talks about talks. Together with former President Mbeki, President Zuma was assigned the task by the ANC on the signing of the crucial Groot Schuur Minutes as well as the Pretoria Minutes, that paved way for the assumption of negotiations in the early 1990’s.
President Zuma was the first ANC NEC member to return to South Africa from exile after the 1990 political unbanning, with the express mandate to work around preparations for the assumption of the historic negotiation process. Relevant to today’s event, I must mention also that he was actually one of the tireless and key negotiators towards the 1994 democratic breakthrough, including negotiations on the drafting of our Constitution that has since become the cornerstone of our democracy as well as our common claim to human rights as South Africans, rights that we are here to celebrate today.
His life is interwoven with the fabric of our human rights struggle and it is most fitting that on this important occasion he has made time from his busy schedule to partake with us as we celebrate National Human Rights Day.
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to humbly request the President of our beloved Republic, President Jacob Zuma, to give us the keynote address.
Remarks by Mr Jeff Radebe, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, on the occasion of the Human Rights Day celebrations, Kliptown, Soweto
