President Cyril Ramaphosa took a few minutes before starting his Freedom Day speech at a government event in Klerksdorp, North West on Thursday to persuade the crowd to pay attention.
He was like a principal in a rowdy classroom with lots of commotion and chatter.
But it may also have been a sign of South Africans’ fatigue and disillusionment 29 years into democracy. There may also be a lack of trust in the government’s ability to deliver.
To get the crowd under control, Ramaphosa whipped out the Mandela stick, telling his audience to treat the event with respect, at least for the sake of the late statesman who died for his people.
He said a world audience was watching on television, and many across the country were eager to hear the government’s message on Freedom Day – the birthday of South Africa’s democracy.
When he finally got under way with the keynote address, Ramaphosa said Freedom Day should be used to reaffirm a shared commitment to the promise of that momentous day.
“On Freedom Day, we recall the great progress made in nearly three decades of democracy, but we also acknowledge that so much of the promise of 1994 still needs to be realised,” he told his audience.
“Schools are now open to all races and millions of learners from poor homes attend no-fee schools. Everyday, 9-million learners receive a meal at school.”
Ironically, learners in just over 5 000 schools in KwaZulu-Natal go to school hungry because of a collapsed school nutrition programme. Several schools have reported not getting enough food or none at all since the start of the year.
The service provider terminated the contract on Wednesday, leaving the government to implement fresh measures to ensure KwaZulu-Natal learners have food in May.
Even as Ramaphosa highlighted the 70 000 tertiary students from poor, working-class backgrounds who received financial support through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, it is disturbing that thousands of these young people have to embark on #FeesMustFall protests every year.
As for public health, the president said services had improved since democracy.
The recent Covid-19 pandemic severely tested the country’s healthcare system, and many facilities were not up to standard. However, the government responded well to the pandemic.
Another positive factor for post-democracy South Africa is the provision of social grants to support about 18-million poor and vulnerable people.
Critics have lashed out at the government for creating a dependent nation, but given the legacy of apartheid racial segregation and economic oppression, the social grant programme brings relief to many families who would be forced to sleep hungry on a normal day.
“This is what progress looks like. These are some of the fruits of democracy,” Ramaphosa said.
“And yet, as every South African knows, we still have much more work to do. Poverty, unemployment and inequality still define the lives of millions of our people. At this time in particular, families across the country are experiencing great hardship and uncertainty.”
But loadshedding was an elephant in the room as Ramaphosa spoke about energy security.
He said: “Freedom cannot be meaningful when South African homes and businesses are without electricity for several hours in the day. That is why we are using every means at our disposal to restore Eskom’s power stations and build new generating capacity as a matter of great urgency.”
He promised a better tomorrow, saying that “the benefits of the progress we have made are not yet felt – loadshedding has not abated – but we will soon experience the impact of the unprecedented investment being made in new power generation”.
After this crisis, “our energy system will be fundamentally transformed, he said, adding that the system will be more reliable, more affordable, and more sustainable”.
On the unemployment front, the president said: “Freedom cannot be meaningful when more than 10-million South Africans are out of work.
“Government reforms are under way to make our economy more competitive, inclusive, and investor-friendly.”
Coming to his speciality, business and the economy, he said government will multiply efforts in the next phase of the investment drive because South Africans need jobs.
He set the target for the investment drive at R2-trillion in capital investment over the next five years.
He also urged citizens to be inspired and encouraged by those who brought freedom to the country and built South Africa’s democracy.
“Unlike so many had predicted, we have not turned on each other. As South Africans of all races, we remain committed to working together to build the country of our dreams.”
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa.
