In his address to the nation on Wednesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the recent flare-up of racial tensions proved that race relations in SA were still fragile.
“Much as we continue to work to overcome the divisions in our society, deep and persistent challenges remain. We have seen racial tensions flare up in several parts of our country, polarising communities and opening old wounds,” he said.
“What we have seen in Senekal in the Free State, Eldorado Park in Gauteng and in Brackenfell in Cape Town shows that the state of race relations in our country remains fragile.”
On inequality, Ramaphosa said until poverty and lack of opportunities among the majority were addressed, reconciliation would remain impossible to achieve.
“True reconciliation will not be possible unless we address the many ills in our own society. We cannot build a truly caring society, as long as the majority live in conditions of poverty, inequality and deprivation, while a minority exists in comfort and privilege.”
Ndlozi calls for land before reconciliation: 'You can't reconcile with someone you're not one with'
Image: Gallo Images/Daily Sun/Morapedi Mashashe
As South Africans commemorated Reconciliation Day on Wednesday, EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said celebrating the day without first seeking “justice” was jumping the gun.
He repeated the EFF's stance on land expropriation, saying this would help South Africans move towards reconciliation.
Taking to Twitter, Ndlozi wrote: “You can’t reconcile with someone you were never one with in the first place. We must seek justice, not reconciliation!”
In another, he wrote, “No reconciliation without the land!”
Party deputy president in October that the party's “ground forces” would one day “reclaim the stolen land and take over the banks, mines and strategic sectors of the economy for the benefit of all people”.
He was reflecting on the heated confrontations between EFF supporters and white farmers from Senekal.
Ndlozi's view was met with mixed reactions from Twitter users, some of whom said reconciliation was important in building a progressive SA, while others agreed that land must be redistributed fairly.
In his address to the nation on Wednesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the recent flare-up of racial tensions proved that race relations in SA were still fragile.
“Much as we continue to work to overcome the divisions in our society, deep and persistent challenges remain. We have seen racial tensions flare up in several parts of our country, polarising communities and opening old wounds,” he said.
“What we have seen in Senekal in the Free State, Eldorado Park in Gauteng and in Brackenfell in Cape Town shows that the state of race relations in our country remains fragile.”
On inequality, Ramaphosa said until poverty and lack of opportunities among the majority were addressed, reconciliation would remain impossible to achieve.
“True reconciliation will not be possible unless we address the many ills in our own society. We cannot build a truly caring society, as long as the majority live in conditions of poverty, inequality and deprivation, while a minority exists in comfort and privilege.”
Reconciliation Day: SA's reconciliation project 'at risk of failing altogether'
Reconciliation Day: racial tensions show state of race relations is fragile, says Ramaphosa
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