Honourable Premier
Colleagues in the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Executive Mayors, Mayors, Councilors
Members of the House of Traditional leaders
Leadership of the ANC and of Alliance
Partners Veterans of our Liberation Movement
Leadership of Opposition Parties
Director General Heads of Departments
Invited guests
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
Good day; Ndimatsheloni; Avuxeni; Goeie dag
One of the greatest philosophers of history Karl Marx once said:
“… if we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people.”
This quote is befitting as we mark the 22nd year since the democratic breakthrough on 27th April 1994. We all know that freedom did not come free like mana from Heaven. Many have consciously sacrificed their lives for the freedom and the future of this country.
That is why it is important at this current conjuncture, seated here today, that we understand and acknowledge history as we move on into the future together guided by the norms and values of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa. These are the principles enshrined in our constitution and they remain the guiding tools to a prosperous South Africa.
We are presenting on the Freedom Month, on this testing time of our lives as we remember the son of the soil who perished through the barrel of an apartheid gun that tried hard, on the eve of a democratic breakthrough of 1994, to derail a progressive course for Freedom in this country.
We are talking of the sun that set before dawn, the life a Chris Hani, whose life embodied the struggle for freedom and democracy for this country. We remember him and believe those who assassinated him can, on his 23rd Anniversary since his assassination, from the bottom of their hearts show remorse and reveal all to help the family to have closure.
Who are we, honorable members that on this day, within the Freedom Month, forget the man whose blood is nourishing the tree that bears the fruits of freedom and democracy? Who are we to ignore Solomon Mahlangu on this important calendar day?
Our freedom did not come free and it is upon ourselves to remind and educate our children and instill the sense of patriotism and work hard for the protection of a constitutional democracy that defines the South African political and social landscape.
It is indeed, within this 22nd year Anniversary that we will mark Freedom Day with the remembrance of the life of Chris Hani, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Elias Motsoaledi, Nelson Diale, Nelson Mandela and many more of our freedom fighters for social order beneficial to all South Africans in general, and blacks in particular.
These gallant heroes and heroines of our struggle for emancipation from colonialism and apartheid, emerged to be amongst the giants that strode our globe like colossus in pursued of a better life for all.
The giants who became architects for the soul of a democratic South Africa. They indeed became the umbilical cord that cannot be broken in the advancement of a democratic dispensation. We say in unison that the fighting spirit of these heroes and heroines did not die, as is manifested in the efforts of the new generation of cadres of our struggle in making sure South Africa remains an integral part in the fight against wars, poverty, unemployment and their concomitant social maladies such as diseases and crime in the continent and world at large. Read more [PDF]
