Address by President Jacob Zuma to 2016 Human Rights Day

Commemoration Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban

21 March 2016
The Premier of KZN, Mr Senzo Mchunu,
The Ministers of Arts and Culture, Justice and Correctional Services, Basic Education
and all Ministers and Deputy Ministers present,
Former KZN Premier, Dr Zweli Mkhize,
MECs, MPs and MPLs,
The Mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Mr James Nxumalo and all Councillors,
The leadership of the governing party and all other political parties present,
Religious, traditional and business leaders present,
Fellow South Africans,
Sanibonani, good day, dumelang, thobela, molweni!
We extend warm greetings to all South Africans and all freedom loving people in our
country, on this 2016 Human Rights Day.
Siyanibingelela nonke ngalosuku
nokugcizelela amalungelo abantu.

olubalulekile

ezweni

lakithi,

lokukhumbula

Usuku lolu esikhumbula ngalo indlela ayecindezelwe ngalo lamalungelo ngeminyaka

yobandlululo, kwaze kwabulawa abantu, abanye baboshwa, kanti abanye bayohlala
iminyaka eminingi ekudingisweni.
Sikhumbula nendlela abantu abamnyama ababephethwe ngayo njengezinto nje,
bengathathwa njengabantu abaphilayo nabanemizwa, abacabangayo nabanelungelo
lokuba la ezweni labo.
On this solemn occasion, we acknowledge all South Africans who suffered gross
human rights violations during the period of apartheid colonialism, including murder,
torture or imprisonment.
In particular, we remember the victims of the Sharpeville massacre, where 69 people
were mercilessly killed and scores were injured when police opened fire on
demonstrators who were protesting against the hated pass laws, in Sharpeville.

On the same day, police also shot and killed three protesters in KwaLanga in Cape
Town and injured many others.
We will never forget incidents such as Sharpeville which demonstrated the heroism
of our people who stood up for their rights.
We thank the United Nations for declaring the 21st of March as International Human
Rights Day.
This was a powerful recognition of the correctness and just nature of our struggle for
liberation.
Compatriots
This year, we have chosen the theme South Africans United Against Racism for
Human Rights Day. We have done so due to the need to continue working together to
eliminate racism and its manifestations in our country.
Our mission since 1994 is to create a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and
prosperous South Africa. This is the task of every South African.
Earlier this year, our country experienced explosions of anger due to racist
utterances and writings which reminded South Africans that the vestiges of white
supremacy and racism still exist in some sections of society.
It became clear that there are people who still yearn for the past, where black people
were treated like second class citizens because of their skin colour.
We know that the majority of South Africans abhor racism and racial discrimination.
That is why our theme correctly says that we are united against racism.
The struggle against apartheid was in the main a struggle against racism, which is
the notion that one group of people is better than others, and is superior to others
simply because of their skin colour.
Successive white governments entrenched racial oppression and segregation which
was enforced brutally by force. The apartheid regime systematically divided South
Africans and caused untold damage to our country, which will take decades to
reverse.
Race determined where people would live or work, which buses and trains they could
board, which schools their children could attend and even which pavements they
could walk on in some cities such as Pretoria.
The best land was taken away while black people were shuffled into reserves and
had to seek permission to live and work in urban areas. This gave rise to the pass
laws and the Sharpeville massacre.
Racist South Africa was described eloquently by former ANC President Chief Albert
Luthuli in his December 1961 Nobel Peace Prize lecture entitled Africa and Freedom.
He said;
Here the cult of race superiority and of white supremacy is worshipped like a god.
Few white people escape corruption and many of their children learn to believe that
white men are unquestionably superior, efficient clever, industrious and capable;

that black men are, equally unquestionably, inferior, slothful, stupid, evil and
clumsy''.
President Nelson Mandela also described how white supremacy manifested itself in
apartheid South Africa in his famous statement from the dock during the Rivonia
Trial.
He said; "The lack of human dignity experienced by Africans is the direct result of the
policy of white supremacy. White supremacy implies black inferiority.
"Legislation designed to preserve white supremacy entrenches this notion. Menial
tasks in South Africa are invariably performed by Africans. When anything has to be
carried or cleaned the white man will look around for an African to do it for him,
whether the African is employed by him or not. Because of this sort of attitude,
whites tend to regard Africans as a separate breed.
They do not look upon them as people with families of their own; they do not realize
that they have emotions - that they fall in love like white people do; that they want
to be with their wives and children like white people want to be with theirs; that they
want to earn enough money to support their families properly, to feed and clothe
them and send them to school''.
Madiba, Luthuli, Tambo, Helen Joseph, Ahmed Kathrada and many others dedicated
their lives to fighting racism and racial discrimination in order to end the type of
society painted by our two illustrious leaders.
They fought for the society described in the Constitution of the Republic.
Madiba signed the Constitution into law in December 1996 in Sharpeville, and this
year we mark 20 years of this historic act.
The Preamble of the Constitution calls upon all of us to heal the divisions of the past
and to establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and
fundamental human rights.
A lot has been done since 1994 to promote nonracialism, reconciliation, inclusion and
unity.
In this regard, we would like to extend a special message to the black majority in our
country.
They were treated as lesser human beings.
They were denied all the rights that human beings in modern civilised societies are
entitled to including equal citizenship in their own country and land.
Despite all this, they extended a hand of friendship and agreed on the need to build
a united, reconciled and non-racial society.
This was important for the transition to a new society and was an enormous
contribution to building a new South Africa.
Namhlanje, sizwakalisa ukuyibonga kakhulu indlu emnyama ngokuvuma kwayo ngo
1994 ukuthi ubuhlungu bengcindezelo nenhlupheko, ikubeke eceleni, ivume
ukuxolela abamhlophe ukuze sakhe iNingizimu entsha.

Siyazi lokhu kwakungelula neze, Futhi namanje kusenzima ngoba abaningi bathi
isandla esibuyayo esiza nokubuyisana kwabaningi abamhlophe asibonakali. Kuba
sengathi umsebenzi wabamnyama kuphela ukusebenzela ukubuyisana. Udaba
okumele ludingidwe lolu sibhekane nalo ngqo njengesizwe.
Today we also salute white compatriots who did not allow their position of having
been born into privilege, to make them close their eyes to violations of human
dignity and crimes against humanity. There are many white freedom fighters who
joined the struggle for liberation and contributed to the attainment of freedom and
democracy in our country.
We must work harder to eliminate that the view that reconciliation is a one way
process where the black majority extends a hand of friendship, but with little
reciprocation from their white compatriots.
Compatriots,
Indeed, we have done a lot to build a non-racial society.
However, the apartheid damage was deep. There is still a long way to go before we
can say we have successfully reversed the impact of institutionalised racism in our
country or to remove prejudice amongst those who subscribe to the notion of white
supremacy.
We urge all South Africans black and white, to become part of this journey to a new
society.
Government has since 1994, worked systematically to reverse the legacy of
apartheid and racial discrimination.
We wish to emphasise and reiterate our determination as government to put an end
to racial discrimination in all its forms and wherever it occurs.
We must remove vestiges of racism in the workplace, in the education system, the
health sector, in the administration of justice and generally in access to government
services and in the private sector.
There is continuous provision of basic services such as water, housing and
infrastructure, electricity, quality education and health care and basically to ensure
that black people live in dignity.
The ending of economic marginalisation is key to the reversal of racism and its
manifestation in the economy.
The economy is still primarily in the hands of the white minority in terms of control,
ownership and management.
Transformative laws aimed at de-racialising the economy or the workplace have been
introduced by the democratic governments since 1994. These include employment
equity laws and broad-based black economic empowerment.
Examples of new transformation programmes also include the targeted creation of
black industrialists which is aimed at opening up the manufacturing sector to the
black community. The business community has responded warmly to this
programme.

The land restitution and redistribution programme is also one of the key programmes
aimed at reversing the legacy of the country's racist past.
In memory of those who died in Sharpeville, Uitenhage and Cape Town, and also in
memory of millions who have suffered racial oppression and racism in our country,
we say today that let us unite to build a South Africa that is free of racism and
prejudice.
To achieve this goal, we need to do a few things as South Africans.
We must openly and consciously discuss notions of white supremacy and how it
manifests itself. When such views are held by people in positions of power, they
undermine the nation's efforts to achieve an equal and non-racial society.
People must be vigilant and point out instances of racial discrimination in the
provision of services in both the private and public sectors, should this exist.
Private companies, religious institutions, non-governmental organisations and state
institutions must run campaigns and awareness programmes on the manifestations
of racism so that we can eliminate denial and claims of ignorance about how this
scourge manifests itself.
It is of critical importance to end the denial and the tendency to downplay
accusations of racism and undertake defensive stances. We should also be aware of
the fact that some racists use art as a form of expression. We should thus be alert to
subtle and disguised racism perpetuated through the stereotyping of individuals or
groups of people in the media, through cartoons and satire.
The acceptance of the problem will lead to unity in finding solutions. And solutions
must come from all sectors and individuals, and not government only.
There is also a tendency to ridicule those who seek to expose racism or racial
discrimination, as a form of defence by those who refuse to acknowledge the
existence of racism, or who are racists themselves and want the status quo to
remain.
Bakwethu, sithi kuyacaca ukuthi ubandlululo lusekhona ezinhliziyweni zabaningi.
Lokhu kudinga ukubhekwa impela ngoba yikho okwenza ukuthi abantu banganikwa
imisebenzi ephakeme ngoba kucatshangwa ukuthi abazi lutho ngoba nje bemnyama.
Sithi ke kumele sibambisane sonke silwe nobandlululo nokucwasana ngebala
emisebenzini, kwezemidlalo nezokungcebeleka, ezikoleni nakweziningi ezinye
izindawo.
There were calls earlier this year for Government to introduce laws or institutional
mechanisms to deal with hate speech and hate crimes.
Government, through the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, has
drafted A National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia
and Related Intolerance.
This Plan emanates from the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action which
was adopted at the 3rd World Conference Against Racism that was hosted by South
Africa and was held here in Durban in 2001.

The Plan is designed to raise awareness of anti-racism, equality and antidiscrimination issues among public officials, civil society and the general public,
mobilizing support from a wide range of people.
This policy framework will encourage the collection of information regarding racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
It will help us ensure that the concerns of individuals and groups encountering
racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance are not brushed
aside or underplayed, and that they are more effectively addressed.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
coordinating the development and finalisation of this Plan.

is

tasked

with

A National Action Plan Steering Committee which comprises government

departments, Chapter 9 institutions, international human rights agencies, faith based
organisations as well as civil society organisations has been established to enable
wide consultations on the Plan.
Once final, the Plan will be submitted to the UN Human Rights Commissioner for
Human Rights. It will form the basis for the development of a comprehensive policy
framework against the scourges of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance.
To complement the National Action Plan, the Department of Justice and
Constitutional Development is finalising the Prevention and Combating of Hate
Crimes and Hate Speech Bill which is expected to be tabled in parliament by
September this year.
The law is intended to make hate crimes and hate speech a statutory offence.
We urge all to participate in the shaping of this important legislation.
We are aware of the fact that government cannot legislate against racist beliefs and
prejudice. Solutions will require the consciousness and willingness of those who
harbour such harmful beliefs to educate themselves about human rights and
equality.
They need to assist themselves to understand that those who look different from
them, are not inferior.
It also requires that we educate our schoolchildren and the youth about the nonracial society we are building. Government has begun programmes of promoting
patriotism and a national identity already amongst our children.
Symbols such as the national anthem, the national flag and the preamble to the
Constitution are being promoted in schools.
Government, through the Department of Arts and Culture, is developing a non-racial
heritage architecture in the country. A major new project, the Liberation Heritage
Route is also to be implemented, and will feature sites of significance in all nine
provinces.
Statues of our liberation heroes are being erected while their graves and other
important sites are being declared national heritage sites.

We are pleased to announce here that government will build a statue of the late CoPresident of the United Democratic Front, and one of the leading stalwarts of our
liberation movement, Mr Archie Gumede, in Durban.
This will be a fitting tribute to a patriot who dedicated his life to the attainment of
liberation in this country.
Compatriots,
The country experienced horrific attacks on foreign nationals in April last year in
parts of Durban and parts of Johannesburg. The majority of South Africans spoke out
strongly against the attacks.
They reaffirmed our country's support of human rights and dignity for all.
We hosted the inaugural Africa Month programme in May last year and are planning
for the second Africa Month celebrations this year to promote peace and friendship
amongst South Africans and fellow Africans. Xenophobia has no place in South Africa
and will not be tolerated.
Compatriots
When we speak of human rights we include the rights of all including compatriots
with disabilities. The United Nations in 2011 declared the 21st of March as World
Down Syndrome Day.
We call on all South Africans to pledge solidarity with South Africans with Down
syndrome and their families and accord them the respect and understanding they
deserve.
We wish all South Africans with Down Syndrome well on this special day.
Compatriots
We have set ourselves on a mission to build a united, non-racial, non-sexist,
democratic and prosperous South Africa.
We are building a South Africa in which nobody will be discriminated against because
of the colour of their skin, in the provision of services and opportunities by both the
public and private sectors.
As we proceed with this mission, we are guided by the words of our beloved Former
President Nelson Mandela who said:
"No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his
background, or his religion.
"People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love,
for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
As South Africans, we say no to racism and racial discrimination.
We say no to xenophobia
We say no to prejudice and intolerance.

I wish you all a meaningful Human Rights Day!

I thank you.