We will never stop defending Human Rights
Note to Editors: The following remarks were delivered by the DA Leader at a commemoration of Human Rights Day and the Sharpeville Massacre. The Leader was joined by DA Gauteng Provincial Leader, John Moodey, DA National Spokesperson, Refiloe Ntsekhe, Tshwane Mayor, Solly Msimanga, Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba, and Midvaal Mayor, Bongani Baloyi, as well as survivors of the Sharpeville Massacre, as well as family members of the victims of the Esidimeni tragedy.
Today we think back to dark days when the people of this country were oppressed and impoverished by the dehumanizing system of colonialism, and then Apartheid.
Colonialism and Apartheid stripped South Africans of their dignity. Slavery, forced labour, displacement, violent subjugation, racial classification with its humiliating tests, making people think they were inferior because of the colour of their skin, industrialised exploitation — these things are all, and much else besides, the legacy of those systems of repression and exploitation.
Now there are some people who believe that this was the price of development and infrastructure.
Well, if this was the price of development, then I say that this price was too high.