The Presidency

Address by President Jacob Zuma during the launch of the National Dialogues on Violence Against Women and Children

25 November 2016

The Premier of the Limpopo Province, Mr Stan Mathabatha,

The Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Ms Susan Shabangu,

Deputy Ministers and MECs,

Deputy Judge President of the Limpopo High Court Judge Fikile Mokgohloa,

Mayors, Municipal Managers and Councillors,

Members of the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges,

Members of the South African Women Lawyers,

Traditional Leaders,

Members from the broader legal fraternity,

Leadership of Faith Based and Civil Organisations,

Fellow South Africans,

We have gathered here today to mark this important day in our country, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Children.

We use this day each year to launch the 16 days of activism of no violence against women and children and to take stock of progress made in fighting the abuse and violence directed at women and children.

This campaign is about uniting all in our country behind one message, that women and children must be safe and must feel safe at home, in the streets and anywhere in the country.

Informed by our country’s Constitution which turns 20 years old next month, government is determined to use all resources at its disposal, to make the country safer for women and children.

The theme of this year’s 16 Days Campaign, which says“Count Me In: Together Moving a Non-Violent South Africa Forward”, urges all of us to fight this scourge of violence against women and children.

This year’s campaign takes the form of the launch of National Dialogues on Violence Against Women and Children.

About twenty-seven Dialogues have been lined up for the various parts of the Limpopo province, to engage the victims and perpetrators. The purpose is to use the information gathered and lessons learned, to prevent the abuse of women and children and to raise awareness.

Dialogues must be held in every province. The Dialogues will provide an opportunity for government to assess its own law enforcement and social support machinery in order to enhance support for women and children.

Violence against women and children manifests itself openly in serious crimes such as murder, sexual assault, domestic violence, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm or human trafficking.

What is of serious concern is that most women are attacked by men they know and in most cases men they are intimate with - their husbands or partners. We are losing more and more women at the hands of their violent intimate partners. 

International studies show that women often turn a blind eye to the violence in their intimate relationships or sometimes prefer to live in denial or disbelief.

They also live in hope that the perpetrator will change and stop their behaviour.

The danger about living in an unattended violent relationship is that it intensifies over time until it leads to death.

Violence against women has been declared a priority crime by government. Women must not be scared to report the perpetrators to the police.

As we meet already there are horrific tales of violent attacks, such as the gang-rape of a 13 year old girl by 10 men in Nyanga, Cape Town.

It is beyond comprehension that adult men can inflict such pain on a defenceless child. Other children are sexually molested at home by relatives in some cases. These are the types of incidents that should unite us all to say enough is enough.

There are also cases of the abuse of girls in schools by teachers, some of whom even fall pregnant. Government appeals to parents and girls to report such teachers to the police and social workers.

This conduct must not be tolerated. Statutory rape must be reported to the police as it is a serious crime against children.

Women are also sexually harassed in the workplace by male supervisors who abuse their positions of power.

The workplace must be made safe for women so that they can perform and be productive in an environment conducive for work.

Women and children must be safe, and must feel safe in their country.

We should in the same vein also step up our efforts in fighting sexually orientated violence perpetrated against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and/or intersex  people. They also deserve to be safe and feel safe, everywhere in the country.

Bakwethu,

Sihlangene namhlanje ukuvula ngokusemthethweni uhlelo lokuqwashisa ngokuhlukunyezwa kwabesimame nezingane.

Sikhumbuza umphakathi wonke ukuthi kufanele sibambisane silwe nalesisihlava sokuhlukumeza, ukushaya, ukudlwengula, ukuthumba kanyenokubulala omame nezingane.

Lezizigameko ziyenzeka emizini nasemiphakathini eminingi. Kufanele ziphele. Omama nezingane banelungelo lokuphila ngokuthula nangokuphepha.

Importantly, violence against women and children is not a private matter. It is everybody’s business. Neighbours must not keep quiet when they see or hear women or children being attacked or abused.

Some families take a decision to hide the abuse of children to avoid embarrassment. These incidents must be reported to the police and social workers. Children deserve justice and protection.

We have legislation in place such as the Sexual Offences Act, Children’s Act, Domestic Violence Act, the Child Justice Act, Older Persons Act and many other laws which are important instruments to fight abuse.

We urge all our police officers to receive women sensitively when they come to report the cases of abuse or violence at the police stations.

A conducive environment is being created at many police stations.

The police Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units were re-established in June 2010.  Members of the Units receive specialised training to deal effectively with sexual offence related case.  

Police run many campaigns around this time as well, raising awareness of the services they provide.

Every Magistrate’s Court has a division that deals with Domestic Violence matters. 

In large offices, there are dedicated clerks and Magistrates to attend to domestic violence matters. This is yet another indicator of the measures taken by government to fight the abuse of women and children.

Women should not keep quiet, and must use all avenues to report abuse and to seek help.

Government has, through the Department of Social Development, established a 24 hour call centre, the Gender-based Violence Command Centre.

The Centre deals with issues relating to domestic violence, rape, physical abuse, indecent assault, verbal abuse/intimidation, abandoned children and non-GBV cases. A majority of cases reported involve incidence of physical violence.

The call centre handles one thousand and five hundred calls a day and these calls are handled by 40 social workers able to deal with the issues raised. The centre refers cases of violence to the police and to social workers. Women should contact social workers to obtain phone numbers or the nearest SA Social Security Agency offices so that they can be assisted.

Such centres are important as they provide a helpful voice on the other end of the line, especially when women and children are not comfortable with speaking to family members.

The prevention of these crimes is also important.

Government’s socio-economic development programmes are designed to improve the living conditions of all, especially women and children.

Some of the interventions which are continuing everywhere by government include the provision of street lighting, reliable and safer public transport, water and sanitation inside the house which create better and safer living conditions for women and children.

  

Going to the river to fetch water or going outside the home to use a toilet at night have become risky for women which is why government continues to provide these services in the home.

Improving the economic status of women is also paramount in order to stop the financial and economic dependence on men, which makes many women vulnerable to abuse.

Some women stay in abusive relationships because they are unemployed and depend on the perpetrator for shelter, food and all basic needs.

I have instructed the economic cluster in government to ensure that all economic programmes of government consciously include the empowerment of women.

This follows the production of the important report on the economic status of women, by the Department of Women in The Presidency.

Programmes are ongoing to improve women’s access to land so that they can grow their own food and build their homes.

Women also need access to business financing and credit so that they can establish small businesses or cooperatives to generate income.

The promotion of education and training opportunities is important measures aimed at empowering women and promoting economic independence.

One of the achievements of government in alleviating poverty has been the social grants system. Many families are able to put food on the table because of the money from social grants.

Government will also continue running Victim Support and Victim Empowerment Programmes to provide much needed psycho-social support.

Government does not work alone in fighting abuse. We acknowledge all non-governmental organisations that support women in distress. They run shelters for abused women, crisis centres and call centres.

We acknowledge religious leaders, traditional leaders and community leaders to whom these cases are also reported. We appeal to them to continue supporting victims and survivors of such cases.

We recognise organisations run by women and men’s organisations, raising awareness and promoting positive role models for men and boys in the campaign of promoting safer homes and communities.

Let me also applaud women in the legal profession for their participation in this important campaign.

The Department of Women is working with the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges and the South African Women Lawyers Association, to host the South African Family Law Dialogue, as part of the sectors dialogues within the National Dialogues in the provinces.

This exercise will provide a platform for women in the judiciary, the legal profession and public service to reflecton the South African family law, its implications, benefits and challenges, and whether the laws are helpful to women or not.

Compatriots,

Let me emphasise that this campaign should not run for 16 days only.

We must together implement our decision taken in 2014, of running this case for the whole year, for 365 days of the year.

We appeal to every citizen and everyone living in South Africa. Let us build a society where women and children are safe, and feel safe.

All of us must play a role to achieve that goal.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my honour and pleasure to officially launch the campaign of 16 Days of Activism of No Violence Against Women and Children.

We wish the country well in ensuring the success of this very important campaign, and urge everyone to participate in every community.

I thank you!

The Presidency

ANC

Address by ANC President Jacob Zuma at January 8th Gala Dinner

8 January 2016, Sun City, Rustenburg

Comrades and friends,

Good evening to you all.

It is a great pleasure to be with you on the occasion of the 104th anniversary of the formation of the African National Congress.

As the oldest liberation movement on the continent, the ANC continues to carry the hopes and aspirations of the people of this country.

The movement was founded on this day in 1912 by men and women who sought to banish the divisions and jealousies among the people of this country and uproot the demon of racialism and tribalism.

They dreamed of a better society, one in which all would be equal, not only in law, but also in wealth and opportunity.

Today, more than a century later we continue to pursue that vision.

After a long and heroic struggle by the people of this country, we have realised the cherished goal of a democratic nation founded on the principles of non-racialism, non-sexism and equality.

We have declared, in the words of our beloved Madiba, that:

We have adopted a democratic Constitution with a Bill of Rights that recognises the equal worth of every person.

We have built democratic institutions through which our people can exercise their right to determine their own destiny.

We have reduced poverty and created opportunities for millions of our people.

And yet, despite this significant progress, there is much more we need to do to fully realise the vision of the founders of our movement.

There is much more we need to do to lift all of our people out of poverty, to ensure that all have education and skills, that all have work, and that all may live safe, secure and comfortable lives.

We have yet to correct the historical injustice of dispossession, economic disempowerment and exploitation.

We have yet to achieve a society in which the land is shared among those who work it.

It is for this reason that we have entered a new phase in our struggle, in which we have placed the achievement of radical economic transformation at the centre of all our efforts.

It is for this reason that we are all here tonight.

It is because you share this vision, because you also seek a South Africa in which all are equal, that you have joined us this evening to demonstrate your support.

We are grateful for your attendance this evening, for the contribution you have made, and for your continued confidence in this movement as the true representative of the aspirations of the people.

Earlier today, I met with traditional leaders to celebrate the anniversary. We did this correctly because traditional leaders played a key roel in the establishment of the ANC, and many were honorary Presidents.

Tomorrow, we will be gathering at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium to present the annual January 8th Statement of the National Executive Committee.

It will identify the central challenges, responsibilities and tasks of the movement for the year ahead.

As in previous years, it will provide a clear line of march for our structures, members and supporters.

At the centre of our work this year must be achievement of tangible progress in fundamentally transforming our economy to meet the needs of all our people.

We must do so in the face of difficult economic conditions.

We do not accept the notion that we must make a choice between growth and redistribution.

They must be pursued simultaneously and in concert.

An economy in which more people have skills, in which more people have access to capital, in which more people have access to health care, in which more people are lifted out of absolute poverty, in which more people have jobs, is an economy that has a greater capacity to grow.

Redistribution is a moral imperative.

It is also an economic imperative.

By excluding the majority of our people from ownership of the economy, by excluding them from the management of companies and from many professions, we are starving our economy of the human capital it needs to develop.

Faster growth is a necessary condition for redistribution. But it is not sufficient.

If we pursue growth for its own sake, without any meaningful transformation, we will simply be reproducing decades of inequality and entrenching racial divisions.

Therefore, in 2016, we will pursue with greater focus and intensity the measures that constitute the core of our economic development strategy.

Education and skills development will remain at the centre of this strategy.

We will build on the progress we have made in basic education, ensuring that the provision of adequate school infrastructure is matched by further improvements in the quality of teaching and learning.

We will continue to expand and improve post-school education.

This year, we mark the 40th anniversary of the Soweto student uprisings, in which the youth of this country confronted the injustices of apartheid.

We remember their struggle and their sacrifices.

The spirit of 1976 lives on in the youth of this country.

The protests by university students last year demonstrated the determination of the youth of this country to be engaged in all matters that affect their lives.

Through their actions, they brought onto the national agenda the critical issue of funding for higher education.

They highlighted the plight of poor students who struggle to access education. They drew attention to the central role that higher education plays in the development of the economy and society.

These protests took place in the wake of massive increases in state support to needy students through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS.

Even with the increases over the last few years, we were still not able to meet the needs of all students from poor backgrounds. That underlines the extent of the challenge we face.

Working together with universities and other stakeholders, we have managed to mobilise the resources needed to fund a zero percent increase in fees in 2016.

Now we need to work together in a similar spirit of cooperation to find lasting solutions to this challenge. We will soon be announcing a commission to look at promoting access to higher education.

During the course of the year, we will continue our massive investment in economic and social infrastructure.

Through more effective coordination and focus we are managing to ensure that our expenditure on infrastructure is used more efficiently and has greater impact on jobs, localisation and the development of our industrial capacity.

This investment not only stimulates economic activity. It also provides the physical infrastructure that will enable us to grow our economy and meet our social needs.

Government will continue to support the process of industrialisation through, among other things, support to mineral beneficiation, the establishment of special economic zones, and sector-specific support programmes.

We will continue with initiatives like the Automotive Production and Development Programme, which has attracted private sector investment of over twenty five billion rand over the last five years.

Several large vehicle makers announced new investments in manufacturing capacity in the last year. We welcome these investments warmly.

As we start the year we are also reflecting on other areas that we must focus on. We will continue our efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector.

We are making progress in our work to strengthen state owned entities.

We have taken steps to stabilise those that have been experiencing difficulties and to assist them towards the achievement of financial sustainability.

We will continue to transform this sector to ensure that these entities are able to meet their economic and developmental mandates.

We will continue to manage public funds responsibly.

We will ensure that we spend within our means and that we keep public debt within manageable limits.

We will continue to direct public resources towards the poor and in pursuit of productive economic activity.

Through initiatives like the establishment of the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer we will reduce wastage, increase efficiency, benefit from economies of scale and reduce the scope for corruption.

Comrades and friends,

We also have a clear and unequivocal mandate from the South African people to implement the National Development Plan.

We are encouraged by the engagements that have taken place among all role-players in the mining sector to address the severe challenges facing the sector. We will continue this year to strengthen the implementation of the measures that have been agreed upon.

During the course of 2016, we will continue to use the Operation Phakisa methodology to bring together key stakeholders to develop groundbreaking strategies for growth and development.

Comrades and friends,

As we celebrate our one hundred and fourth anniversary, we will focus on the challenges and tasks of the movement.

We will continue this year to build the ANC and the Alliance.

We will emphasise the responsibility of ANC members and leaders to promote activism in society.

We expect our cadres to earn the respect of their peers and society at large through their exemplary conduct.

They must be informed by values of honesty, hard work, humility, service to the people and respect for the laws of the land.

We must work together to defeat patronage, the arrogance of power, bureaucratic indifference and corruption.

We must serve the people selflessly and tirelessly.

Comrades and Friends,

This evening we celebrate the achievements of the South African people.

We celebrate a glorious movement that has overcome the greatest challenges to lead the construction of a new society.

As we do so, we are aware that much hard work lies ahead.

We have much to do to achieve a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it, black and white.

We have much to do to overcome poverty, unemployment and inequality.

With your help, and with the support of all South Africans, we will continue to struggle, and we will not rest, until we have achieved a better life for all our people.

Happy birthday to the ANC!

I thank you.

ANC

Address by ANC President Jacob Zuma to the ANC January 8 2016 Anniversary Celebration with Traditional Leaders

8 January 2016, Rustenburg

The Provincial Chairperson, Comrade Supra Mahumapelo,
Members of the National Executive Committee of the ANC,
Chairperson of Contralesa,
Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother, Queen Molotlegi,
Distinguished Guests,
Comrades and friends,

Good day to you all.

Comrades let me start by conveying our deepest condolences on the tragic passing of Kgosi Keobusitse Moiloa III.

His untimely and tragic passing has robbed his people and the North West province of his contribution in the building of a better society.

May his soul rest in peace.

We meet on a very important day in our history, on the 104th anniversary of our glorious movement, the African National Congress (ANC).

We are celebrating that which brings us together as South Africans - the ANC and its undying commitment to this country and its people since 1912.

The ANC has worked hard to earn its special place in the hearts of South Africans.

Since 1912, this organisation has worked consistently to rid South Africa of colonialism, oppression, apartheid, racism, tribalism and sexism.

It has endeavoured to remain true to its nation-building task.

Pixley ka Isaka Seme aptly emphasised unity as the essence of the ANC in October 1911 when he spoke out about the need to eradicate the demon of racism and tribalism. The ANC stands for the unity of the South African people and the respect of the human rights and dignity of every South African, regardless of race, culture, or creed.

The ANC stands for humility, service to the people, hard work, selflessness and dedication to building a better life for all our people.

The ANC stands for non-racialism and totally rejects racism, racial discrimination and prejudice.

We owe these traditions, values and customs of this movement to its founding leaders whom we recall today as we celebrate the anniversary of the movement.

We salute the first executive committee, which consisted of Rev. John Langalibalele Dube, as President; Solomon T. Plaatje as Secretary; Pixley ka Isaka Seme as Treasurer; Thomas Mapikela of the then Orange Free State as Speaker and Kgosi Montsioa as the Recording Secretary.

The Rev. Mqoboli of the Wesleyan Church became Chaplain-in-Chief, assisted by the Rev. H.R. Ngcayiya. Walter Rubusana, Meshack Pelem, Sam Makgatho and Alfred Mangena were elected Vice-Presidents.

Today we also acknowledge the critical role played by Traditional Leaders in the founding of the ANC. Traditional Leaders who became Honorary Presidents in 1912 were: Dalindyebo of the abaThembu, Montsioa of the Barolong, Lewanika of Barotseland (a part of Zambia), Letsie 11 of Basutoland (Lesotho), Khama of Bechuanaland (now Botswana) and King Dinizulu of the amaZulu.

When we pay our respects to traditional leaders as the ANC, we are staying true to the history and traditions of our movement. When we visit places of worship, we are also remaining true to tradition, as this movement had a Chaplain in Chief at its inception in 1912.

You will also notice, if you visit ANC archives on our website and read our historical documents, that our policymaking also began in 1912. At the inaugural conference of the ANC in Bloemfontein, eleven papers were read and the topics ranged from schools and churches, African labour, segregation and the land question, amongst others.

We are therefore celebrating an organization that has always thought about the best policies and programmes to build a better life for the people of our country, since 1912.

This celebration of the ANC legacy since 1912 also provides an opportunity for us to acknowledge the contribution of women to the history of the ANC and our country.

While we correctly mark the 1956 Women's March on the Union Buildings, it should also be noted that women had started much earlier than that to make their presence felt in the struggle for liberation.

Our archives indicate that about 600 women marched to the Municipal offices in Bloemfontein in July 1913, and handed over their passes to the Deputy Mayor. We celebrate the pioneers from Charlotte Maxeke to Lillian Ngoyi and many other fearless and courageous women who stood for freedom, justice and equality for all.

We also celebrate the formation of the ANC Youth League, the preparatory school of our movement, which must rise and take its rightful place as the leader of all young people in South Africa.

We are also celebrating the fact that this organisation has since 1912 produced leaders who were always equal to the challenges and tasks of the time. We are also celebrating the generations of illustrious leaders produced by this movement over the years.

Comrades

We remain true to the vision and mission of the ANC in 1912, to build a better life for our people.

We love our country. We love its people.

We will continue to work tirelessly to build a better South Africa.

Comrades

The ANC is preparing for local government elections. We have done a lot to change the face of local government and to improve services.

We will be going to our people to hear what else they want us to do to further improve the performance of local government.

Amandla!

I thank you.

ANC Today

WHITE YOUTH YEARN TO BE PART OF AFRICAN NATIONALISM    

Posted on 3rd August 2016 by Staff Reporter Posted in Viewpoints.

ELIA ROUSSOS

Strictly speaking I live in the diaspora. Even though I was born in Johannesburg, my homeland is many miles away on the sandy shores of the Mediterranean. And difficult as it may be to fathom, especially here in South Africa, given the painful political past, I am an African, pale-skinned as I am.

I personify the consequences of colonialism and privilege.

However, these opportunities and advantages I would like to put into parenthesis if not surrender. They make me prone to cynicism and they stand in the way of my ambitions and aspirations. You see, no matter my birthright, I wish for nothing more than to be an African and to play a part in the growth of this fragile continent of Africa. And, the African National Congress (ANC) has provided me with this platform to engage with my dreams.

How true the words of the great comrade Nelson Mandela, “there is no easy walk to freedom, anywhere”. As I sit scripting this personal account of my yearning to join the artery of African Nationalism in South Africa, it is my history that precludes me from becoming what I want to be.

How much harder, I wonder, did Joe Slovo, Ruth First and Rob Davies have to work to become influences in the party of the African National Congress?

My freedom to support the political party of my choice seems to be challenged at every junction. After 22 years of a democratic and free South Africa can we honestly say that we live in an equal country, if a white man cannot be a member a historically black political party?

As a young man growing up and in search of a moral framework upon which to base these difficult years of my life, it is the Freedom Charter of the ANC that guides my way.

In my own community and indeed amongst my peers, my political affiliations make me an object of ridicule and I find myself in the absurd position of not been taken seriously by both my friends in the Greek community and within the youth structures of the very political home of my choice, the ANC. These distractions have never dissuaded me otherwise. Passionately, however, I support the ANC because I believe that the philosophical traditions of Africa offer an important contribution to the theory and practice of leadership in the world today.
Today, 3 August 2016, is momentous in my life as I exercise my hard earned right and vote for the first time! I can openly state that a vote for the ANC is a vote for equality. A vote for the ANC is a vote for freedom. A Vote for uKhongolose is a vote for better services and a brighter future for all!

Central to African philosophy is the Zulu proverb: ‘Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.’ A person is a person because of other people. In South African politics, it is only within the structures of the ANC that the reciprocal relationship with the individual and the mother body is central to the political party itself. This is the essential difference between the ANC and the main opposition and it is for this reason that I choose to be a fish out of water.

By no means is the ruling party excluded from making mistakes. However, these mistakes can only build us as an organization and allow for greater growth as a whole.

Ngifuna ukuthatha leli thuba ukubonga ubaba wethu UJacob Zuma.This revolutionary has provided South Africa with a clear path towards economic emancipation of all our people through the NDP.
Unlike the majority of my peers who elected to do Afrikaans as their second additional language, I chose Zulu, a far more difficult option. But, at the end of my high school career, I am very grateful that I made this decision. In studying the dynamics of this language, I have come to appreciate the beauty of its culture. Being part of the collective is the very essence of the Zulu way of life.

And as Thabo Mbeki once said, “I should concede equal citizenship of our country to the leopard and the lion, the elephant and the springbok, the hyena, the black mamba and the pestilential mosquito…I know that none dare challenge me when I say – I am an African!”

Asinavalo Maqabane!
Siyanqoba!

CDE. ELIA ROUSSOS IS A STUDENT AT WITS UNIVERSITY AND A MEMBER OF THE ANCYL

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ANC Today

ANC SALUTES THE LIFE OF EL-COMMANDANTE FIDEL CASTRO

Posted on 27th November 2016 by Staff Reporter Posted in Viewpoints and tagged ANC, Fidel Castro, Gwede Mantashe, mourning Castro, Nelson Mandela, Republic of Cuba.

GWEDE MANTASHE

The African National Congress lowers its revolutionary banner in mourning, having learnt of the passing of El Commandante en Jefe Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, a giant amongst revolutionaries, a friend of the African people, Leader of the Cuban Revolution and former President of the Republic of Cuba.

On behalf of all freedom loving peoples of South Africa, the ANC sends its deepest condolences to the people of the great Republic of Cuba.

The ANC collectively mourns with the countless revolutionary movements of the Global South, for whom the legendary leader was a tireless supporter, ally and friend.

It was the great Russian revolutionary Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov, widely regarded as the founder of Russian Marxism who said in his seminal essay “The Role of the individual in History” – “a great man is not great because his personal qualities give individual features to great historical events, but because he possesses qualities which make him most capable of serving the great social needs of his time”

A true internationalist, El Commandante Fidel Castro’s philosophy was premised on the radical idea that those whom Fanon called ‘the wretched of the earth’ had the right to eat regularly, have quality homes, be granted access to free quality education and quality medical care.

In essence, Castro believed that the poor had a right to lives of dignity. For these ideas and policies, he earned the unabashed hostility from the global neoliberal elites and self-appointed controllers of the world.

The imperialist Western nations, working together with reactionary and racist Cuban elites and their media propagandists correctly saw in him a formidable foe who wanted to end their greed, fragmentation, financial and moral corruption and bullying.

Castro had a true sense of service to his people. He did not outsource his historic responsibility to corporate profiteers. He understood the saying that rapacious capital is not in the business of nation building.

The importance of Castro in the history of the post-colonial world is monumental because he won the real battle of developing a small island against imperialist domination.

Comrade Fidel joins the global pantheon of revolutionary leaders who have passed from this life having left an indelible mark not on just their nation’s history, but the history of the world.

For everyone committed to the ideals of equality, of social justice, of freedom, of the universal brotherhood of man – today is the saddest of days.

We have lost a man who dedicated his life to the betterment of his fellow man, and stood firm in the face of oppression to lead his people to freedom. Under the leadership of Comrade Fidel the living standards of the Cuban people were vastly improved, millions of young Cubans were educated and skilled, illiteracy was eradicated, and not only was public health care improved, but it became the envy of developing countries worldwide. Despite healthcare spending per capita being 1/20th the size of the US, life expectancy at birth in Cuba is about the same as that of the US.

The Cuban revolution was an inspiration to all nations suffering under the anti-imperialist yoke, and under the leadership of Compañero Fidel, the Communist Party of Cuba and the Cuban people were among the strongest supporters of South Africa’s struggle for liberation; lending various forms of material and political support to the liberation forces during the dark days of apartheid.

The life of Compañero Fidel is illustrative of the qualities of exemplary leadership – of putting country before self. In pursuit of the common good, he was undaunted and unafraid in the face of huge forces of resistance. He knew, and said: “A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle between the future and the past.

We who strive for another world will continue to defend Castro from oppressors of men. We will not forget his love the for downtrodden of his land and world over; his faith in humanity and its potential and hope for a better world which he began to build.

The ANC will not forget you El Commandante and we will keep the spirit of your ideas live, until we are all free. In his memory and honour, the African National Congress  today affirms our unwavering commitment to the struggle for our people’s emancipation, and to supporting the people of Cuba in retaining their right to self-determination at a time when the forces of globalization threaten to derail the gains of the Cuban revolution.

Comrade Castro was a symbol of revolutionary virtue and personal sacrifice and with his life gave full meaning to the spirit of internationalism. He will be sorely missed. We will forever salute this outstanding revolutionary, and make the call as did Che Guevara, Hasta La Victoria Siempre.

COMRADE GWEDE MANTASHE IS ANC SECRETARY-GENERAL

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