Johannesburg - The African National Congress has made strides since the dawn of democracy in 1994, President Jacob Zuma said at the 60th commemoration of the Freedom Charter in Kliptown, Soweto on Friday.
“Since 1994, the democratically elected governments have focused on addressing historical injustices and creating new institutions to facilitate the building of a democratic society based on the principles of non-racialism and non-sexism,” Zuma said while addressing thousands of people gathered at the Walter Sisulu Square.
“Substantial progress has been made in the areas of accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, integrity, the legitimacy of the state, and the rule of law.”
He added that concrete steps were taken to overhaul legislation which was based on apartheid. The dismantling of the legal framework of apartheid and the transformation of state institutions had led to the improvement of the lives conditions of millions of people.
“During the first ten years of democracy alone, 789 laws or amendments aimed at reconfiguring South African society were approved by Parliament. We created the Chapter 9 institutions to strengthen and protect constitutional democracy and human rights.”
“The ANC government put in place new institutional arrangements and structures to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, informed by the Freedom Charter and the Constitution.”
Zuma spoke about the origin of the idea about the Freedom Charter and told the audience that it was professor ZK Mathews who had proposed the concept and its principles during an ANC meeting in Cradock in the Eastern Cape in 1953.
“His idea became a national ANC campaign, and the Council of the Congress of the People was created, with Chief Albert Luthuli as chairman and Walter Sisulu and Yusuf Cachalia as joint secretaries. The Congress of the People was to create a set of principles for the foundation of a new South Africa,” he said.
In 1954, Luthuli issued a call urging ANC volunteers to travel around South Africa and collect demands and to encourage people to describe their vision of a democratic South Africa.
“Thousands of ANC volunteers trekked to all corners of the country to hold meetings, rallies and public forums with ordinary people in factories, on the farms, in communities and churches, women’s organisations, schools, trade union branches, to prepare a schedule of popular demands for change. These were then collated and compiled.”
The Congress of the People in Kliptown on 25 and 26 June 1955 saw thousands of delegates, including Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Helen Joseph and Father Trevor Huddleston, gather to adopt the Freedom Charter.
Zuma called upon ANC members to unite.
“As ANC members we must live the values in the Freedom Charter and Constitution. We must promote unity, non-racialism, discipline and a selfless commitment to building a better South Africa for all. We must embrace all in our country especially those in need and hardship,” he said to a loud applause.
“At this point, we urge ANC members to lead by example and embrace the families of those who were killed brutally in Marikana. Our brothers and sisters in Marikana should not shoulder the pain of losing their loved ones alone.”
ANA