Issued by: North West Communication Services
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY SPEECH BY POPO MOLEFE PREMIER OF THE NORTH WEST AND MEMBER OF THE ANC NEC AT NOKANENG MORETELE, MPUMALANGA PROVINCE
Chairperson, compatriots and friends, I bring to you greetings from the Provincial Executive Committee of the African National Congress and those of the entire mass democratic movement in the North West province.
On this day in 1960 thousands of our people gathered at different venues in the major centres of the country in peaceful demonstration of their opposition to the law which forced African people over the age of 16 years to carry special identification passes.
This law was one of the cornerstones of apartheid, a system which was designed to dictate to black people where they could or could not stay where they could or could not work and where their children could or could not go to school.
It was one of those laws, which, in the grand scheme of apartheid, black people had to be classified according to ethnicity and language. It was part of a body of laws which deprived black people of their birthright in the country of their forefathers.
In Sharpville and other areas such as Cape Town, people gathered at police stations to tell the police, as enforcers of their oppression, that they had had enough of being treated like slaves in thir own country by people who came to this country in search of food.
In the true fashion of a racial minority dictatorship, in Sharpeville the police opened fire and killed 68 unarmed people, many of whom were shot in the back as they were fleeing.
Since that day the apartheid government intensified the oppression of the masses of our people, imprisoned our leaders Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and others; tortured and killed many people: Ahmed Timol, Neil Agget, Steve Biko, Onkgopotse Tiro and many others. Thousands of black people had their basic human rights violated by the machinery of apartheid and its bantustan surrogates.
Siphiwe Mthimkhulu, Stanza Bopape, Mufamadi and countless disapproved without trace. But the Democratic Movement and the next of kin of these noble sons and daughters have always been convinced that they too fell prey to the vicious repression of the Nationalist Party Regime.
Thus the confessions of individuals such as Dirk Coetzee, Almon Nofomela, Spyker Tshikalanya, Captain Johan Opperman, Daluxolo Luthuli of their involvement and that of senior National Party government officials and politicians as well that their Bantustan surrogates came as no surprise to us.
The masses of our oppressed people, led by the African National Congress, have defeated that monster and ushered in a democratic government.
The government of national unity under the leadership of the ANC, is underpinned by a constitution, which ensures that the people themselves have a say in how they are governed, and a Bill of Fundamental Rights.
We celebrate this day to mark that day on which a government which was not chosen by th people, committed the massacre of the innocent; and to ensure that their death was not in vain.
Importantly, we celebrate this day as a recommitment of our government to the observance of fundamental human rights of all our people.
On this day we make a clean break with the past. We say never, never and never again will a government arrogate itself powers of torture, arbitrary imprisonment of opponents, and the killing of innocent demonstrators.
This is a day on which we commit ourselves to uphold the constitutional rights of all our people. We say we shall use the resources of State not to finance Third Force death squads against our citizens, but we will use tax payers money to give our people a better life.
We are not going to train our police force to murder our opponents, but we are going to use them to protect the rights of our people. We are not going to use money to divide the people according to ethnicity and language, but we commit ourselves to give all people, Motswana, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Africaner or Zulu equal opportunities.
The ANC today is mobilizing our people around the process of socio-economic transformation, so that all citizens can participate in programmes designed to bring them a better life. Our commitment to the transfer of power to the masses, was not confined to transfer of political power only. The programme of the movement today is to transfer economic power into the hands of the masses so that they too can have electricity, decent housing, transport, clinics, water and jobs.
We believe it is a right to have these amenities, but we all must be part of the strategies which are aimed at realizing this objective. We must build strong political and community structures around the strategic objectives of the ANC, so that the ANC is not only the author of the Reconstruction and Development Programme, but also the vanguard.
Such structures will have the necessary political vigilance to ensure that the process of transformation is not hijacked by reactionary elements. Strong branches will be able to understand that apartheid has left deep scars in the minds of many people, like for example the white farmers in Tuinplaas and Settlers who continue to exploit our workers.
It is the duty of leadership in this area to formulate strategies by which the torture and exploitation on the farms can be brought to an end. By for example, educating the workers and making them aware of their rights: and also extend that education to the farmers themselves.
I am sure we all understand that the building blocks of the ANC are the branches themselves. Many policy decisions of the movement area articulated at branch level. The branches are the eyes, the ears, the arms, the legs, the head and the body of the movement, and anything that is a hardship to our people on the ground should first and foremost be addressed by the branches.
It was the branches who defeated apartheid and its Bophuthatswana surrogate. It is the branches who elected the President and my brother Matthew Phosa to lead the process of implementing government policies in this province.
I am sure that with the co-operation of communities in this area, led by the ANC on the ground, we can overcome the obstacles that still prevent our people from enjoying their fundamental rights.
CRIME
As far as there exists the type of people around here who still refer to other people with derogatory names like "kaffir", the leadership in this area should ensure that the communities are organised to uproot criminal elements like these from within their midst. This and other crimes should be the subject of a community policing forum, which does not hamper the work of the police, but complement policing by co-operating with them in the eradication of crime.
TRADITIONAL LEADERS AND THE COUNCIL
Comrades should congratulate themselves for having ensured that the ANC is the driving force for development at local level. The establishment of a Council which is led by th ANC should be supported by all branches in these areas.
Comrades should nurture the cordial relationship which exists between th community and traditional leaders like Kgosi Mokgoko, Kgosi Chaane, Kgosigadi Moepi and Kgosi Maloka, Kgosi Legigi.
Branches as centres of activity, should address as a matter of urgency tribal conflict that still exists between Tswana-speakers and Ndebele speakers. They should instill in their membership the culture of discipline and the principle of non-racism, which have made the ANC such a powerful force in the political struggle of this country.
The REC in Moretele II should consider reaching out to the REC in Witlaagte and Kalkfontein to form alliances in an honest attempt to bridge the ethnic divide.
CONCLUSION
I wish to urge our membership in this area to consolidate the democratic gains we have achieved so far by ensuring that we develop a human rights culture within our structures.
We should all work hard to engender forgiveness and reconciliation. Where we differ with our neighbours, we should preach tolerance and understanding.
That way we will vindicate the struggle our people have waged. We must not allow our members to turn the structures into citadels of oppression.
The freedom we have fought for should be enjoyed by all our people, men and women, inside and outside the structures of the movement.
AMANDLA !!!
21 March 1996