The Hector Pieterson of his generation
Note to editors: This is an extract of a speech prepared for delivery at a public meeting in Namahadi which is part of the Mafube municipality in the northern Free State. Helen Zille's visit to the Free State comes days after a service delivery protestor, Andries Tatane, was shot and beaten to death by police in Ficksburg
Fellow South Africans,
The tragic events of the last week, not far from here in Ficksburg, will one day be seen as a watershed in our history.
The image of Andries Tatane being beaten and shot by the police is seared into our consciences. He committed no crime. All he did was protest against the collapse of service delivery in his town. The right to peaceful protest is protected by the constitution, so the police should have been protecting his rights, not following their "shoot-to-kill" orders. The fact that Mr Tatane was a COPE candidate standing for the May 18 election, adds a further sinister dimension to this tragedy.
At a time like this, we must recall Nelson Mandela's vision of a "rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world". We also remember his promise that "never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another."