The privileged cannot ignore the plight of the poor, says Ramaphosa

Published Apr 27, 2020

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Johannesburg - President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on South Africans to unite as the country commemorates Freedom Day. 

In his Freedom Day address, Ramaphosa said the past month, with a strict Level 5 lockdown in South Africa, had exposed the country’s inequalities. 

Freedom Day marked Day 32 of the lockdown that Ramaphosa announced in March to combat the spread of the invisible enemy, Covid-19.

“Some people have been able to endure the coronavirus lockdown in a comfortable home with a fully stocked fridge, with private medical care and online learning for their children. 

“For millions of others, this has been a month of misery, of breadwinners not working, of families struggling to survive and of children going to bed and waking up hungry,” said Ramaphosa. 

He called on the privileged few to stand up and do what was just.

“In this new society, the privileged cannot afford to close their eyes to the plight of the poor and sleep peacefully at night. This is the time when we should actively work to build a fair and just country,” said Ramaphosa.

He said all had the right to healthcare, food security, shelter, water, social security and land. 

“In this final decade of the National Development Plan, we must change the pace of social and economic transformation. As a country, we are more than capable of building a more equal society where these rights are realised.

“For as long as this is delayed, freedom for some is freedom for none,” he said.

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