The scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) is tainting the country\u2019s rich heritage, said President Cyril Ramaphosa, once again denouncing what he has described as South Africa\u2019s second pandemic. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important that generations that come after us must fully grasp the importance of the freedom we have all achieved,\u201d President Ramaphosa said in his Heritage Day speech on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He told the nation that men, women and children of tomorrow must be proud to have inherited a democracy that affirms the worth and dignity of all citizens.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo long as this country\u2019s women and children live in fear from violence, we cannot regard ourselves as totally free.<\/p>\n
“So long as women are being harassed, abused, beaten, raped and murdered, we cannot say we are a civilised society,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n
The President condemned GBV that has engulfed the country as reports of women and children dying in the hands of men continue to hog headlines.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbusing women is not our tradition, nor is it our custom. It is not, and will never be our heritage,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, he said, throughout the history of Africa, women have built and shaped societies, ruled kingdoms and highly respected and valued.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must put an end to this terrible shame that is tainting the image of our country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you oppress a woman, you oppress a nation. When you beat a woman, you beat a nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has called on citizens to do away with practices that discriminate against women even through forms of representation in the media, advertising and in popular culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe apartheid government denigrated our cultures and tried to make us ashamed of our cultures, our traditions, our languages and our very appearances,” he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is disheartening to see that in democratic South Africa, there are still crude stereotypes of black women being put on public display.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has encouraged South Africans to continuously check their acts of racism and prejudice.<\/p>\n
Renaming of towns<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, he said monuments glorifying the divisive past should be repositioned and relocated.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has generated controversy; with some saying, we are trying to erase our history.\u201d<\/p>\n However, he believes that building a non-racial society means being sensitive to the lived experiences of all people.<\/p>\n \u201cWe make no apologies for this because our objective is to build a united nation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAny symbol, monument or activity that glorifies racism, that represents our ugly past, has no place in democratic South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n He told the nation that the struggle against apartheid was first and foremost aimed at ensuring that all people should reclaim their dignity, black and white.<\/p>\n \u201cRestoring their dignity is the preoccupation of this administration.\u201d<\/p>\n He said government was determined to continue to strive to eradicate poverty, inequality and underdevelopment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to uphold the rights of all our people to practice their cultures, to speak their languages and practice their traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n Also, government will continue to support every effort to preserve the country’s common heritage, as well as those of individual communities.<\/p>\n “As much as we celebrate our customs and traditions on this day, let us also appreciate that in practising our cultures freely and openly, and in speaking our native languages, we are reclaiming not just our heritage, but our pride and our dignity as South Africans.\u201d<\/p>\n Paying tribute<\/strong><\/p>\n The President has paid tribute to the \u201cspirited defenders\u201d of the country\u2019s heritage who lost their lives this year.<\/p>\n \u201cYet as there are those who have passed from this life, we have our Living Human Treasures, our repositories of knowledge, customs and traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n This Heritage Month is dedicated to Dr Esther Mahlangu, Mama Madosini Latozi Mpahleni and Mama Ouma Katrina Esau.<\/p>\n Dr Mahlangu\u2019s paintings inspired by Ndebele design are on display in more than a dozen countries around the world and her work has won numerous awards.<\/p>\n Mama Madosini, the Queen of Pondoland music, is the greatest living musician who can play the indigenous bow instruments.<\/p>\n Mama Katrina Esau is a champion of the culture of the San people and is one of the two last remaining speakers of the N\u01c1ng language. <\/p>\n He said Heritage Day is a time to appreciate the many facets of the nation\u2019s cultures, customs and traditions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the time when we put them on display to appreciate and celebrate and share our cultures and traditions with others.\u201d<\/p>\n He described South Africa as a nation of the maskandi, Malay choral music and sokkie treffers, but also of amapiano.<\/p>\n Also, a nation that is taking the world by storm with the #JerusalemaChallenge, as young and old in France, the UK, Jamaica, Angola and even in Palestinian East Jerusalem itself are getting in on the craze. \u2013 SAnews.gov.za<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) is tainting the country\u2019s rich heritage, said President Cyril Ramaphosa, once again denouncing what he has described as South Africa\u2019s second pandemic. \u201cIt is important that generations that come after us must fully grasp the importance of the freedom we have all achieved,\u201d President Ramaphosa said in his Heritage 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