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President Jacob Zuma said South Africans need to unlearn the divisions of the past and build one nation, united in its diversity.
He was speaking at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Missionvale Campus, Port Elizabeth, today to commemorate the Day of Reconciliation.
Zuma was joined by Eastern Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle, Nelson Mandela Metro mayor Danny Jordaan and Nathi Mthethwa, the minister of arts and culture.
He said reconciliation would not be achieved overnight and lambasted violent protests in the country, describing them as a legacy of apartheid.
“Reconciliation is a process. Healing is a process. We will not achieve these overnight. In other words, we need to work for it. We need to work for it in every sector of our society,” he said.
Veering off his speech, Zuma said there was something the country had not done to address the wounds – either physically or mentally – of the apartheid system.
“We took other things for granted. For an example, we have never addressed the issue of violence appropriately. Where does it come from? Why are our people so violent? We had to deal with a system that was very violent, it therefore produced counterviolence.
“Those who were subjugated by apartheid with violence believed in order to get rid of apartheid they must use violence to liberate themselves,” he said.
Zuma said this led to the belief that any confrontation with the authority must be violent, a culture of the apartheid era now used in the democratic government.
“What we did not do was to tell people that the kind of authority we have now is no longer of the oppressor. It is our authority. Our own government … we cannot repeat the same method that was used then [during apartheid] to our government,” the president said.
The event was attended mainly by ANC supporters in party regalia.
Zuma said a healing process and educating people about the issue of reconciliation was everyone’s responsibility, including that of political parties and other organisations.
“All organisations, traditional leaders – this must be the theme, because otherwise at times we exaggerate our problems and make people think that South Africans are funny people. Whilst, in reality, people envy to be South African,” said Zuma.
He did not speak about the recent controversy involving the changing of finance ministers.
The president also thanked South Africans, particularly black people, for the attempts they have made towards the goal of achieving unity and reconciliation.
“Let me thank the black community of South Africa. Our country is what it is today precisely because, despite the terrible injustices meted out against them, the black majority made the choice not to seek revenge. They chose to build a country that belongs to all who live in it, black and white.
“This was not a sign of weakness. It was a bold and courageous act of patriotism which puts the interests of our country first. I am singling out the black majority because, while their lives have changed considerably since 1994, the inequality still exists and some have not yet tasted the fruits of freedom given the backlog that we face in achieving redress,” he said.
Zuma said a collective effort by all races was needed to bridge the gap between the rich and poor, black and white.
He said it was encouraging to see black and white students marching together in support of free education recently.
“Let me take this opportunity of being on a university campus, to update you on the zero percent increase agreement implementation process. I had appointed a task team to deal with the question of no-fee increases for the coming financial year and it has reported back,” he said.
Zuma said the R2.3 billion that is required for the universities to function will be shared by government and universities.
