During yesterday’s Freedom Day speech, President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged that celebrations seemed meaningless while communities, especially women, lived in fear of violence, but pledged to improve the effectiveness of the police and the justice system.

Delivering the 29th Freedom Day celebration address at the Alabama stadium in Klerksdorp in the North West, the president said many more gains stand to be realised to give true meaning to the concept of freedom.

“Freedom cannot be meaningful while communities live in fear of gangsters and women live in fear of men.

“We have done much to improve the effectiveness of the police and strengthen the criminal justice system, but we need to do much more,” he added.

He says there is a need to build durable partnerships based on respect and cooperation between the police and communities.

“We need to unite as a society to end the violence that is perpetrated by men against women and children. This is a fight that we must all take up—both men and women—if we want to achieve equal rights, freedoms, and opportunities for all.

“As we undertake these great and difficult tasks, we are encouraged and inspired by those who brought freedom to our country and built our democracy. South Africans of all races remain committed to working together to build the country of their dreams.”

The president says South Africans cannot build a better South Africa of equality, freedom, and social justice for all if ‘they are a family that turns on itself’.

“Let us focus on what unites us. Let us always remember just how far we have come. Let us take counsel from the elders among us, understanding that it is a desire to be of assistance that motivates them.

“As elders, let us listen to the hopes and dreams of the young and take their concerns seriously,” Ramaphosa added.

Freedom Day is commemorated every year to honour those unsung heroes and heroines who fought for freedom and paved the way for an equal, representative, and non-racial society.

The national day also honours the masses of South Africans who resisted and suffered under the apartheid regime and faced death, injury, and repression from the security forces. – SAnews.gov.za