Racism and its symbols must go – Cyril

In his first hard-hitting speech against those who resist racial change, President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday apartheid symbols must go and government would not apologise for transforming the country into a nonracial society.

“Building a truly nonracial society means being sensitive to the lived experiences of all this country’s people.

“We make no apologies for this because our objective is to build a united nation,” he said. “Any symbol, monument or activity that glorifies racism, that represents our ugly past, has no place in democratic South Africa.”

The struggle against apartheid was aimed at ensuring all SA’s people reclaimed their dignity. “Restoring their dignity is the preoccupation of this administration,” he added.

In an address to mark Heritage Day yesterday, the president said the renaming of towns and cities and the erection of new statues and monuments formed part of heritage transformation.

The president cautioned business to be mindful of the country’s apartheid past in their advertisement contents, expressing disapproval of Clicks’ offensive hair advertisement which generated much controversy.

“It is disheartening to see that in democratic South Africa, there are still crude stereotypes of black women on public display.

“The social cohesion we seek means we must be mindful of the legacy of our past, whether we are businesses selling products, whether we are producers of content for television, or otherwise.”