Address by President Jacob Zuma on the occasion of marking the Day of National Reconciliation, Port Elizabeth

16 December 2015

Premier of the Eastern Cape, Province, Mr Phumulo Masualle,

The Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr Nathi Mthethwa

Ministers and Deputy Ministers present here,

Executive Mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, Dr Danny Jordaan,

MECs and Councillors present

Vice-Chancellor of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Professor Derek Swart

Traditional and religious leaders in our midst

Distinguished guests

Fellow South Africans,

I greet you all Molweni, Sanibonani! Dumelang! We are happy to be with the people of Ebhayi on this important day in the country’s national calendar, National Reconciliation Day.

The name of this holiday tells a story. It is a reminder that this country went through centuries of war, divisions and conflict.

We went through a system of government that was designed to promote divisions and hatred.

To maintain its unjust rule, the apartheid state had to use violence. People were murdered in the townships and villages locally and in many countries where freedom fighters had sought refuge.  Survivors were maimed and traumatised. In fact, all who lived through apartheid had to be traumatised in one way or another as it was a brutal system of government.

The ANC government came into power in 1994 and immediately set out to build a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, united and prosperous society.

National reconciliation became one of the key policies of government.

Our new government led by President Nelson Mandela, carried out programmes designed to teach South Africans that despite the difference in race, culture or language, we are one people.

The message since 1994 has been that we are one nation. We are one South African nation. We have to unlearn the divisions of the past and build one nation, united in its diversity.

The Preamble of the Constitution underscores the values of a free South Africa and the message of unity.

It says;

“We, the people of South Africa,

Recognise the injustices of our past;

Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;

Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and

Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.

We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to -

Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;

Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;

Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and

Build a united and democratic South Africa, able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.

May God protect our people”.

We took 16 December, a day that was commemorated separately by various national groups and made it a day that is meant to bring all of us together, to reflect on the past and plan the future together.

The theme for this year's day of reconciliation is: "Bridging the divide: Building a common South African nationhood towards a national developmental state."

The theme reminds us that true reconciliation cannot be achieved simply by forgiving and forgetting.

It must be accompanied by a deliberate collective resolve to deal with the material basis of social divisions such as poverty, landlessness, as well as economic inequality.

If we fail to do this, we will not succeed in uniting all our people regardless of race, class, religion, culture, language and other social constructions used to divide humanity.

Inspired by Amilcar Cabral when he said "tell no lies, claim no easy victories," we must readily accept that we still have many challenges which undermine the total reconciliation of our nation.

One of the challenges is the assumptions that is made at times that reconciliation simply means the absence of vengeance and retribution.

When we take this view, we than over-simplify the concept of a rainbow nation to the extent that people could even be ignorant of the historical injustices meted out against the black majority.

If we do that, we run the risk of not succeeding in achieving true reconciliation in our country.

We therefore have a collective responsibility to confront the misconceptions of reconciliation. The Former Chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Archbishop Desmond Tutu was referring to when he said;

"There are erroneous notions of what reconciliation is all about. Reconciliation is not about being cosy; it is not about pretending that things were other than they were. Reconciliation based on falsehood, not on facing up to reality, is not reconciliation and will not last."

We must never trivialise or deny the suffering of the past. If we do so, we will not achieve true reconciliation.

Compatriots

Today I want to thank South Africans for the attempts they have made towards the goal of achieving unity and reconciliation.

We are still on the journey towards true reconciliation, and a lot has been done by many ordinary people.

Let me thank the black community of South Africa. Our country is what it is today precisely because, despite the terrible injustices meted out against them, the black majority made the choice not to seek revenge. They chose to build a country that belongs to all who live in it, black and white.

This was not a sign of weakness.

It was a bold and courageous act of patriotism which puts the interests of our country first.

I am singling out the black majority because while their lives have changed considerably since 1994, the inequality still exists and some have not yet tasted the fruits of freedom given the backlog that we face in achieving redress.

We must work together, black and white, to bridge the gap between the rich and poor, black and white.

The socio-economic transformation programmes of the democratic government are designed to ensure that we succeed in reversing the legacy of decades of apartheid and that South Africa becomes a better place for all especially the poor.

While we have achieved a lot, we still have some way to go in fighting inequality.

For obvious historical reasons, income distribution and growth is racially skewed in favour of white South Africans, with the African still at the bottom. The Census of 2011 stated that the income of the average white household remains six times that of the average African household.

Figures confirm this stark inequality by putting the average annual African household income at about sixty thousand rand per annum, while that of the white household was put at more than three hundred and fifty thousand rand per annum.  Close to 1.9 million African households reported no income at all. 

We should also remember that very few companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange are black owned. This then indicates that we have a long way to go still. However, the good part is that we have programmes in place to reverse the legacy of apartheid. Millions of people now have access to services that they did not have access to before such as water, electricity, housing, health, education and others.

Work is continuing to further expand access to these services. Work is also continuing to grow the economy so that we can create jobs. We are doing this under difficult conditions given the global economic climate.

We have developed projects such as the Nine Point Plan which was announced during the state of the nation address in February this year to ignite growth in the economy.

We decided to focus on nine areas;

The nine point plan consists of:

a. Revitalisation of the agriculture and agro-processing value-chain;

b. Advancing beneficiation (adding value to our mineral wealth);

c. More effective implementation of a higher impact Industrial Policy Action Plan;

d. Unlocking the potential of SMME, co-operatives, township and rural enterprise;

e. Resolving the energy challenge;

f. Stabilising the labour market;

g. Scaling-up private-sector investment;

h. Growing the Ocean Economy;

i. Cross-cutting Areas to Reform, Boost and Diversify the Economy which are;

i. Science, technology and innovation

ii. Water and sanitation

iii. Transport infrastructure

iv. Broadband rollout

v. State owned companies.

We have also decided to introduce deliberate empowerment programmes such as the Black Industrialists programme. This is designed to ensure the deracialisation of the manufacturing sector in our country among others.

We want also want to see more young people entering the small business sector, creating opportunities and jobs for themselves.

All these programmes are being introduced to expand economic opportunities so that more of our people can see the dividends of freedom.

Compatriots,

Our youth must be not only be beneficiaries of reconciliation, they must also be its architects and work with us towards that goal.

They must know and fully understand the historical injustice suffered by the majority, so that they, black and white, can work together to ensure that we build a more solid non-racial future.

It was thus encouraging to see black and white students marching together in support of free education recently.  We congratulate our youth as they clearly took forward the country’s traditions of non-racial struggle and of being a united and non-racial South Africa.

Let me take this opportunity of being on a university campus, to update you on the zero percent increase agreement implementation process.

I had appointed a task team to deal with the question of no-fee increases for the coming financial year and it has reported back.

The short-term recommendations on funding include the following;

A short-term solution for the 0% fee increment is already in the process of being implemented. The R2.3 billion that is required will be shared by government and universities.

Universities have already received allocation letters addressing the financial shortfall Fifty percent of government’s portion of the shortfall, eighty three percent, will be transferred to institutions in January 2016 and the rest in April 2016.

Let me while on this subject also state that while the right to protest in a democracy is protected and supported, all students, student leaders and formations should renounce anarchy and the destruction of university and private property

Compatriots

Reconciliation must go hand in hand with healing.

Indications are that while we have done a lot to transform and rebuild our country, we still need to do much more to promote healing.

Building the physical landscape of the country is easier than building the soul of a nation. Our people had been brutalised over many years.

However they have not had the time to reflect and heal. There has not been enough time to find one another.

In the coming year, we should as a nation prioritise the promotion of healing. 

The stories of life under apartheid appear to have been suppressed because we felt these would not promote reconciliation.  We were wrong.

People need to tell their stories on various platforms, in the media, in community gatherings, during national days and everywhere.

We must tell the stories of suffering and apartheid brutality. Our youth and children must know what this country went through.

We must tell the stories of bravery and resilience, of fighting a mighty apartheid state with almost nothing, and the triumph of good over evil.

Those of our white compatriots who were forced to undergo compulsory military service or conscription and were deployed in townships as young people to defend and entrench an evil regime need to be able to share their stories so that they can find healing.

Those who defended apartheid because they believed in it then, should also share their stories to enrich the tapestry that is South African history.

We should also tell the story of the non-racial struggle, of how many white compatriots joined the struggle for freedom, because they believed in equality, justice, human rights and freedom.

Those who were part of the courageous movements such as the Black Sash, the End Conscription Campaign or Detainee Parent Support committees need to share their stories of selflessness and sacrifice across the colour line.

We must tell the stories of Indian and Coloured compatriots who also waged relentless struggles to achieve a free South Africa, and forgo the mini-privileges offered by the apartheid state.

Indeed there is a lot we should do to pick up where we left off in 194.

We will be discussing within government what programmes to engage in more visibly to promote healing in our communities. We cannot do this alone. We are thus happy that the religious sector is already doing something about it.

I met the leadership of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) in Pretoria yesterday. We all know the heroic role played by the SACC in the struggle for liberation in our country.

The SACC will today launch a major programme called The South Africa We Pray For, which is anchored on healing and reconciliation. We wish them well with this programme as it will contribute to the national task of finding peace and true reconciliation.

We know that other religious formations also have programmes that are designed to promote healing.

We urge our people to participate in these programmes and ensure that we promote healing and reconciliation.

We will in the New Year also work harder to promote programmes for our youth such as the Bill of Responsibilities which is designed to teach our children that rights come with responsibilities.

We also trust that as more transformative programmes take root such as the programmes of restoring land to those who had suffered the 1998 cut off, the healing and reconciliation efforts will be taken further.

Indeed, healing is a process. Reconciliation is a process.

We will not achieve these overnight. We must work hard.

I wish you all a successful National Reconciliation Day.

I thank you.

Issued by The Presidency, 16 December 2015