Address by the Premier of Limpopo Mr Chupu Mathabatha on the occasion of the Provincial Freedom Day celebrations held at Tubatse Local Municipality
Programme director,
Members of the Provincial Executive,
Executive Mayors and mayors of our local municipalities, Traditional leadership,
Leaders of various political parties Representatives of faith based organisations, Members of the Media,
The people of Limpopo,
Good morning! Thobela!
Thank you very much for responding in such large numbers to this important twenty-first birthday of our freedom and democracy. April 27 is a very important day in the calendar of our country.
On this day, we unite as South Africans in the beauty of our diversity, to celebrate freedom and commemorate our collective victory over the evil system of racial segregation and oppression.
I feel that it is important to emphasise that the 1994 breakthrough over apartheid was not a miracle as others like to say.
The 1994 victory was a product of many years of selfless struggles and the unity of the people of the world against the evils of apartheid.
Many nations from across the world have sacrificed a lot for us to be able to celebrate this freedom today.
African countries in particular have contributed and sacrificed a lot for our freedom.
We know that in 1962, our icon, tata Nelson Mandela travelled to Ethiopia for military and political training. The Ethiopian army trained and armed Nelson Mandela in his struggle against apartheid South Africa.
We also know that our father OR Tambo spent more than 30 years leading the liberation movement under difficult circumstances. He had to beg African leaders whose countries had nothing, bankrupt through years of colonialism, to accommodate hundreds of young people who wanted to fight apartheid. They selflessly gave their countries, their security and their land for us, for free.
On this day we should remind ourselves of the gracious role of the people of Tanzania and the people of Zambia who hosted the liberation movement during our darkest hour of need.
When the ANC, the SACP and the PAC were banned in this country, we were embraced by the people of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and many other African countries in the true spirit of common brotherhood.
The truth is that the rest of Africa had rallied itself for our freedom and liberation.
Most of these countries had to endure bombings and military attacks in the hands of the Apartheid South African Defense Force. We owe a lot to our fellow African sisters and brothers than we can ever pay back.
It is therefore shameful that some amongst us are seen today with sjamboks, pangas, knobkerries, tomahawks and all sorts of traditional weapons, vying for the blood of fellow brothers from the African continent.
This is not what freedom is about. Our fellow Africans did not contribute to our freedom so that we can in return loot their stores, destroy their properties and slaughter them like animals.
However as the people of our beautiful province of Limpopo, you must be commended for your exemplary manner in which you have been living and continue to live side-by-side with many foreign nationals.
Program Director,
Our province as a gateway to Africa is a home of thousands of Zimbabweans, Batswana, Mozambicans, Zambians and a host of other foreign nationals.
The economies of most of our towns and villages owe their growth and development to the contribution of foreign nationals. We have Teachers in our schools that are from these countries.
To this extent, I must also take an opportunity to salute various stakeholders in our province who recently organised rallies and demonstrations against xenophobic tendencies.
On Friday the ANC together with social partners such as the business community and the Polokwane City Football Club organised an anti-xenophobia march in Polokwane.
This march was preceded by an anti-xenophobia peace and prayer campaign organised by the Musina Local Municipality on Thursday. Through these events, the people of Limpopo spoke in one loud voice, that, we are Africans before we are South Africans.
Irrespective of nationality, social origin, ethnicity, race, culture and religion, we are all entitled to equality and dignity.
Indeed as Martin Luther King, Jnr has said "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
Programme director;
The freedom we are celebrating today has come with the culture of human rights, human dignity and a better life for all. In celebrating this freedom, we must also seize a moment to remember and pay homage a galaxy of distinguished men and women who have sacrificed their lives for us to be free.
We also pay homage and extend our deep-felt gratitude to all the people of the world who have lent their weight behind our struggle for freedom and democracy.
To all of them we are committing ourselves never take this freedom for granted. We will always remember that this freedom is pillared on their sweat, blood and relentless sacrifices.
Programme director and the people of Limpopo,
Today we celebrate because we know well the pain of oppression and dominance of one racial group over the other. We truly come from a hopeless and painful past. Apartheid had divided our country into two unequal parts.
On the one hand we had white people who were assisted by apartheid laws and policies to enjoy a high standard of living with access to the best education, best healthcare facilities and related socio-economic opportunities.
At the same time, apartheid laws and policies were carefully designed to deny black people a decent standard of living. It was through the apartheid design that our people did not have even the basics such as homes, jobs, land, medical care and education, let alone participation in the economy.
We come from a history were workers were denied their right to set up trade unions, their right to engage in collective bargaining and their right to peaceful demonstration and strike.
We come from a history were the only recognised property rights were the rights of wWhite men.
Without doubt, apartheid legislations and policies stood opposite to the Biblical injunction that we were all equal because we are all made in the image of God.
Apartheid institutionalised and celebrated white superiority while entrenching black inferiority.
Programme Director,
When we took over government in 1994, our people mandated us never to repeat the evils of the past. Instead, we were mandated to; overcome the legacy of inequality and injustice created by apartheid in a manner that did not violate anyone’s right or freedom.
We were mandated to reconstruct and develop this country working within the ambit of social justice and the constitution. You will remember Programme director that when we took over many said we would not succeed to unite South Africans beyond their racial identities.
Instead, they said we will only tear this country apart. They said that we will be consumed by the spirit of triumphalism and vengeance. They said we would use the political power in our hands as a bayonet to drive a White man into the sea.
We consciously chose not to over-emphasise our differences but instead work together to shape a common future for ourselves and for our children. We have chosen a future free from racial hatred and dominance, a future free from oppressive laws and brutality, and indeed a future free from violence, poverty and joblessness.
This is the future that all of us should work to achieve.
Programme director,
Today we are celebrating because the tide has turned; Freedom has come with a lot of opportunities for our people. Limpopo is today a much better province than it was 21 years ago.
When the ANC government took over, this province was characterised by extreme levels of poverty and diseases, particularly in the rural areas. Our people were denied even the most basic means of survival such as access to decent housing, electricity, water, tarred roads, and recreational facilities.
Today this province has a different story to tell, indeed a good story to tell.
The evidence of our collective success is everywhere for everyone to see.
Our government has ensured that over 96% of learners in our province benefit from the No-Fee School Policy.
Today over 96% of learners in quintiles 1, 2 and 3, benefit from the National School Nutrition Program (NSNP). The government is providing about 20 000 learners with Scholar Transport.
These and many other interventions have led to an increase in our Matric Pass Rate from 38% in 1994 to over 72% in 2014.
We have built an impressive network of roads that not only in big towns and cities but in our villages too.
We are proud to state that we have thus far managed to electrify over 87% of households in this province.
We have connected over 86% of households with clean portable water.
We can also announce that we have provided housing to over one million people.
All these achievements have given our freedom a much deeper meaning and relevance.
Programme director, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have indeed travelled a long road since 1994. We have covered much ground.
We have built schools and hospitals. We have constructed bridges, dams and world-class power stations.
Even at the face of the many challenges we have as a nation, we know that our future is in good hands and that the future is indeed bright.
Let all of us be the defenders of our freedom and democracy.
On behalf of our Provincial Government, I wish you a happy freedom day.
Let us celebrate with the knowledge that tomorrow is still a day. The task to build a Limpopo of our dreams continues.
I thank you!
