Mbeki: What have you done?

2005-04-28 06:27

Johannesburg - South Africans should ask themselves what their individual and community contribution had been to the realisation of a democratic country, President Thabo Mbeki said at the main Freedom Day celebrations at Durban's Absa Stadium on Wednesday.

"During this new decade, we should ask ourselves ... whether through our actions we have contributed to the transformation of our country or whether we have blocked its advance away from our apartheid past," he said.

Chaos erupted during a heavy cloudburst, forcing large crowds to push through different entrances for shelter.

Several people in the crowd were waving African National Congress (ANC) and SA Communist Party flags or wearing the organisations' T-shirts while the sounds of vuvuzelas could be heard everywhere.

The thousands were not destined to go hungry because brown paper bags containing chicken, a bread roll and fruit juice were handed out.

In his speech, Mbeki said there could have been serious racial conflict because of the past, but people, particularly those who were oppressed, had forgiven those responsible for their suffering.

He said the challenges of the coming decade were numerous and daunting.

Some believed it was the sole responsibility of the government to tackle these matters.

"These include those who don't take the initiative to do something about their circumstances but always complain that government is not doing anything for them," Mbeki said.

"These people, to whom South Africa also belongs, usually fold their arms when their compatriots engage in self-reliance programmes."

Ivory Coast

Turning to the continent, Mbeki hailed his Ivorian counterpart Laurent Gbagbo for his announcement on Tuesday to let the main opposition leader Alassane Ouattara contest presidential polls in October.

Gbagbo's action would contribute to peace and stability in the west African country after more than two years of conflict.

South Africa was mandated by the African Union to help Ivory Coast's warring factions to find one another.

Mbeki also welcomed the Democratic Republic of Congo's political delegation to South Africa. The group is to attend a bi-national commission on Friday.

Leon

At Mitchell's Plain in Cape Town, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon urged South Africans to defend the Constitution.

He said it was under attack by "some of the very people who were key to negotiating and affirming it in the first place".

"These days you hear very little from our government, and the ANC, about our Constitution," Leon said.

"You hear far more from them about the Freedom Charter, the historic document which the ANC and its allies inaugurated in 1955.

"It seems that the more the ANC departs from the spirit and the letter of the Constitution, the more it invokes this outdated manifesto written over 50 years ago."

Freedom Day also marked the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Charter, drawn up to encapsulate human rights goals for the country.

Also criticising the ruling party was Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Mulder who said that after 11 years, April 27 was beginning to resemble the victory of one group over the other.

"This is a recipe for conflict and not for reconciliation," he said.

- SAPA