Remarks by Limpopo Premier, Mr Sello Moloto at the Freedom Day celebration, Sanfa Stadium, Bela-Bela, Waterberg District

Programme director
MECs here present
Executive Mayor of Waterberg District Municipality
Mayor of Bela-Bela Local Municipality
Mayors from other municipalities
MPs and MPLs
Honoured traditional leaders
Councilors
Veterans and stalwarts of our struggle
Distinguished guests
Comrades and compatriots

We have gathered here in Bela-Bela in the Waterberg District of our province to celebrate our country's fourteen years of freedom. We are celebrating this day today with a sense of pride and remembrance as we look back at our past and what we have managed to achieve within just a decade and a half. There can be no reason for anyone to doubt that the changes which have happened in this country have been far reaching, given the decades of oppression South Africans have had to endure since 1652.

This is why we never miss the opportunity to celebrate the spirit of millions of people who cast their votes on 27 April 1994, to open the way for the creation of a democratic, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa, based on equality, dignity and respect for human rights.

As a result of the elections of 27 April, we now have a Constitution and policies which are all based on the quest for a non-racial, non-sexist society where individuals and communities are free to practice their beliefs, traditions and cultures without fear.

We can say without fear of contradiction that, the greatest achievement of our liberation struggle has been the restoration of dignity to millions of our people. In this regard, we have broadened access to basic services previously denied to most. We have opened the doors of learning to the majority; we have created economic opportunities for black people, and have also built houses for many people who previously did not have shelter.

Since the advent of democracy in 1994, we have seen the number of households with clean drinking water increasing, informal settlements being eradicated, and illiteracy being attacked from all fronts. Our people now enjoy better access to healthcare than they used to under apartheid and the numbers of households which use electricity have also increased dramatically. The latest results of Statistics South Africa-Community Survey show in great detail the extent to which we have moved in all of the abovementioned areas.

However, we are the first to acknowledge that although our government has delivered in many of these areas, much more still needs to be done.

Programme director, as a province, we are obviously disturbed by the spectre of crime which continues to hit us from time to time, sometimes even at our schools. Turning this tide against crime will obviously not be achieved overnight. Equally, this battle cannot be won simply by paying lip service to it. In our view, crime will only be won when all of us join hands with the police to isolate the criminals who are the minority amongst us. This means that every community member has an obligation to create awareness around crime, by taking the battle to the criminals themselves. It must be the criminals who live in fear and not law-abiding citizens.

As you will probably know, the province is still reeling from the spate of child murders which have been going on in Modimolle recently. Incidences such as these only serve to blight our freedom and confirm the moral degeneration that has been going on in our society.

Programme Director, on the other hand, the rocketing of food prices has been a challenge which many people face, not only in our country but also in many other developing countries throughout the world. While our government does everything to minimise the impact of food prices, we need to devise strategies to make full use of the arable land that is at our disposal. Throughout the province, one usually comes across vast tracks of land lying fallow without anyone utilising it for productive purposes. This current challenge may require us to revisit old and new ways of guaranteeing food security for all.

Programme director, at the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that racial incidents in some parts of our country have also cast a shadow over our nation building and social cohesion efforts. There are isolated cases of racial abuse taking place in different farmlands of our province which include recent incidences of the denial of burial rites to farm dwellers by farmers.

Our view is that the solidarity displayed by South Africans in condemning the incidents at the University of Free State must be extended towards cases such as these where the motive seems to be racial hatred. We know that acts of racism are committed by very small groups and individuals in our communities who do not reflect the general attitude of South Africans. This is why South Africans of all races need to continue to reject racism in all its forms. Part of being a new South African, must mean that we break out from our past prejudices of race, tribe, gender and ethnicity and begin to embrace the values of the new nation.

Programme director, in spite of the current difficulties which the country may be going through at the moment, such as racial prejudice, power outages and the rocketing of fuel and food prices, we must not lose hope. Let us never be demoralised by these challenges to the extent that we forget to speed up our programmes of fighting poverty and underdevelopment.

It will be imprudent for us to divert from our course of building a better life for all, simply because of these challenges. We know that South Africans are resilient people who are always full of hope, even when the future looks uncertain. What we do today should lay the basis of hope for future generations to come.

Programme director, it is days such as these when South Africans look back with pride in appreciation of the sterling role which many of our people played in their own liberation. We marvel at the heroism and the spirit of bravery demonstrated by those who came before us, who today are our veterans and stalwarts. As we celebrate our freedom and democracy, we recall the courage, the sacrifices and the solidarity that ensured that South Africans inherit a just, united and prosperous country. This shows that the political rights which many of us now take for granted did not come on a silver platter. How can we ever forget the names of such giants and heroes of our struggle as Lilian Ngoyi, Hellen Joseph, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Braam Fischer, Ellen Khuzwayo, Chris Hani, Solomon Mahlangu, Andrew Masondo and Peter Mokaba to mention but a few.

It is from them that we learned how to fight and gain courage of conviction in the correctness of our cause. They continue to sustain our vision of a free, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa where there is ample opportunity for all. They are the shining stars whose lives are a source of inspiration to everything we do as government and the people of South Africa. This conviction explains why our provincial government is in the process of building a provincial heroes acre, where the lives of our heroes and heroines would be immortalised.

Programme director, once more, we wish to reiterate that with freedom comes responsibility. Simply put, it will be wrong for us to interpret freedom to mean that people are allowed to do as they wish. Freedom can never mean that people are allowed to break laws or disregard the rights of others with impunity. It also does not mean disobedience of parents or selfish entitlement. We say this because we know, for instance, that in some of our schools, learners have abrogated to themselves the right to undermine teachers and other learners, in the name of freedom. This culture cannot be allowed to take root in our democracy if we are serious about the cultivation of ubuntu and a human rights culture. All of us as members of the community therefore have a responsibility to act by restoring discipline and the respect of a culture of human rights in our schools. We have it within our means to bring back the culture of service, respect, self respect, solidarity, and human dignity.

Lastly, one would like to end with a quote from Victor Frankel, a one time holocaust survivor and a prisoner of conscience who once said: "Evil happens when good people do nothing." Flowing from this quotation we must then ask ourselves the question: what am I doing to destroy or build my country? What role can I play to sustain this freedom for it to benefit future generations to come?

As we celebrate freedom and democracy, we call upon all sectors of society to work together to address the current challenges which we face so that we keep alive the dream which sustained us in our fight against injustice and national oppression.

Let us speed up the process to build a South Africa that is free from discrimination, poverty, underdevelopment and racial prejudice. A better world is possible, only when we know how to achieve it! We wish you a pleasant holiday.

I thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Limpopo Provincial Government
27 April 2008