REMEMBERING
Moloto reminds Ramaphosa not to forget those parties that fought against apartheid
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa lays a wreath at Sharpeville Memorial in honour of the fallen massacre victims.
SOUTH Africa needs a new deal on land reform that will benefit all its black citizens, PAC leader Narius Moloto said yesterday during the Human Rights Day commemorations in Sharpeville.
“We want to emphasise that one thing left behind long after the fight against apartheid is land. On this 59th anniversary of Sharpeville, we know that black people are a majority that is still without land. We are still struggling under the confines of the 13% of the land granted to traditional leaders by the apartheid government,’’ Moloto said to loud applause.
‘’I am happy that the president (Cyril Ramaphosa) is here. Ramaphosa, we need a new land deal. Codesa (Convention for a Democratic South Africa) did not do justice to African people. We need justice… we demand a deal on the table… a deal on land to benefit the majority of our people.”
The country commemorates the 1960 Sharpeville massacre in Vereeniging on this day. At least 69 people were shot dead by the apartheid era police officers for protesting against pass laws.
The PAC had proposed anti-pass law campaigns across the country starting on March 21, 1960.
Moloto said that it was time all political parties that fought against the apartheid regime “be recognised”.
“As we go into elections, let’s not forget the parties that fought for the liberation of this country. If we do, we might as well discard the contributions of these heroes. Mr President, I am sure we agree that even the parties that didn’t participate in the liberation of this country are overtaking us in the discussion of land. Let us not drag down the need of our people, which remains the land.”
THE COUNTRY’S recent regression into darkness has seemingly spooked President Cyril Ramaphosa, who used his Human Rights Day address to tout the progress made in electrifying the majority of South Africa.
Yesterday in Sharpeville – the site of one of apartheid’s most brutal massacres in which 69 people were killed and 180 injured – the government held its annual commemoration, where Ramaphosa stressed improvements made over the last 25 years to extend electricity to the majority of citizens.
The president was reacting to the rolling blackouts, which experts have said will cost the economy billions and which have been used by opposition parties as a stick to highlight the governing party’s “failures”.
This comes as the emotive issue of land expropriation as a human right became visible again as an election rallying call as Ramaphosa called for a “new deal on land” in response to calls for greater reforms within the sector.
Ramaphosa said people who did not have electricity during apartheid had been provided with connections by the democratic dispensation.
“Energy, like housing, water and health care, is a human rights issue. It may not be mentioned in the Bill of Rights, but it is fundamental to the dignity, safety, health and well-being of our people.
“None dare deny that we have made remarkable progress in providing our people with access to electricity,” Ramaphosa said.
“In 1994, only 36% of the population had access to electricity. Today, 8 out of 10 South Africans have electricity in their homes.
“Yet we are currently facing a severe energy crisis that is having a profound impact on the lives of our people and our economy.
“Restoring a reliable supply of electricity – and ensuring that we have a sustainable model for affordable energy into the future – is now one of
our most urgent priorities,” he added.
Meanwhile, DA leader Mmusi Maimane wants Eskom to stop selling electricity to South Africa’s neighbouring countries until it can meet its domestic demands.
Addressing the media after speaking to residents of three sprawling informal settlements in Bekkersdal, on Gauteng’s West Rand, Maimane said:
“Let us stop exporting energy so that we look after the people of South Africa as best as we can.”
Eskom supplies electricity to countries such as Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Zambia.
In 2017, Zimbabwe owed Eskom over R1billion.
Mozambique’s Cahora Bassa hydro-electric plant supplies the Apollo sub-station in Midrand. The lines supplying energy from Cahora Bassa have been damaged, further worsening the current load shedding crisis.
Maimane said Eskom should also roll out a smart metering system to ensure that all electricity consumers paid to stabilise the power utility’s finances.
EFF leader Julius Malema vowed that his party would not try to please the white community in order to be viewed as a progressive political party.
Speaking in Sharpeville yesterday, he said: “We don’t have time to please white people. We are not against white people but we are pro-black.
“Why must we fight for people who are not oppressed?”
He accused the government of trying to rewrite history by calling Sharpeville Day a human rights day. “This nonsense that they are peddling in defence of white privilege, we are not part of it. We are here for the rights of black people.”
“Ensuring that we have a sustainable model for affordable energy is now one of our priorities.” Cyril Ramaphosa President