Source: President of South Africa –
Programme Director,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Premier of the Free State, Ms MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae,
Premiers, MECs and Executive Mayors,
Members of Parliament,
Members of the Judiciary,
Representatives of Chapter Nine Institutions,
Traditional, faith-based and community leaders,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished guests,
Fellow South Africans,
Dumelang. Goeie môre. Sanibonani. Molweni. Lotjhani. Ndi matsheloni. Good morning.
I greet you all on this Freedom Day.
Thirty-two years ago, on the 27th of April 1994, South Africa was born.
The morning of the 27 April 1994 did not begin like an ordinary day. It began with great anticipation, excitement and a determination by millions of South Africans to participate in the birth of a nation.
Before sunrise millions of our people stood in long lines – young and old, rural and urban, black and white. Many were exposed to heavy rain and burning sun but they waited with patience, pride and dignity to cast their votes for the very first time.
More than 20 million South Africans participated in an election that was peaceful, free and fair.
It was a celebration of the human spirit and its capacity to overcome adversity.
It is an honour to mark this occasion here in Bloemfontein, where the flame of freedom was lit.
It was here in Mangaung that the African National Congress was born in 1912, bringing together for the first time people from across our country to stand against oppression and dispossession.
This is a province that suffered terribly the cruelty of colonialism and apartheid.
Here in Bloemfontein and in towns across the province, tens of thousands of Afrikaners and Africans were held in inhuman conditions in British concentration camps during the Anglo-Boer War.
Many thousands, mostly women and children, died. Their suffering stands as a shared, though unevenly remembered, chapter of South Africa’s past, one that calls for remembrance, honesty and humanity.
This is a province with a history of courageous resistance.
Women from the then Orange Free State were among the first to rise against the extension of pass laws in 1913, with protests breaking out in Jagersfontein, Winburg and Bloemfontein.
They were arrested and imprisoned and their families were left without caregivers. Instead of being broken, the women of the Orange Free State became more determined because they would not accept a system that denied them dignity and freedom.
This was the site of the Witsieshoek Peasants’ Revolt of 1950 against the apartheid government’s oppressive land control policies. This was one of the most significant acts of resistance in rural South Africa.
The revolt was about the livelihood of rural people regarding their cattle, wealth, security, identity and dignity that an oppressive government wanted to destroy.
The Witsieshoek Peasants’ Revolt demonstrated that the struggle for freedom was also fought in the valleys, in the fields and in the hearts of rural communities. It was fought by farmers in the rural areas, families and ordinary people who chose courage over silence.
It was the people of this province that took Mama Winnie Mandela into the hearts and gave her comfort when she was banished to Brandfort in 1977.
History is often told through great speeches and grand events. But sometimes, its most powerful chapters are written by ordinary people who choose humanity over fear.
When Mama Winnie Mandela was banished to Brandfort, the apartheid rulers thought they were isolating her and breaking her spirit and influence. The people of Brandfort here in the Free State did something remarkable: they did not let that voice fade. They carried it. They strengthened it. And they made it their own. They united in compassion and that became stronger than the system of a apartheid itself.
Last month we laid to rest a son of this province, the first Premier of the Free State and a stalwart of the liberation struggle, Mr Mosiuoa ‘Terror’ Lekota. He was a brave and principled leader who served this country with distinction.
On this Freedom Day, we honour his memory.
Today, we recall the words of our first democratic President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela at his inauguration, when he said:
“The time for the healing of wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us.”
On that first day of our freedom, as a nation, we entered into a social contract to build a society anchored in human dignity, equal rights and freedom for all.
Thirty years ago, the Constitution of the Republic, the legal foundation of that contract, was signed into law. That constitution became our birth certificate as a nation.
Our Constitution, which is widely regarded around the world as one of the most progressive, visionary and influential constitutions ever adopted, is a powerful promise about freedom and stands as our collective shield – protecting the freedom our people fought for.
Out of struggle came freedom; through our Constitution we have entrenched it as the unshakable foundation of our nation.
We have come far.
We stand here today not only as citizens of a democratic nation, but as custodians of a hard-won legacy of freedom. A legacy won in struggle. A legacy shaped by sacrifice, courage and an unbreakable belief in in freedom and justice.
There was a time in this country when freedom was not a right but a dream.
It was a time when voices were silenced, dignity was denied to millions who were excluded from the life of the country they called home. But our people refused to accept that fate.
They organised. They resisted. They endured. And they won their freedom.
And in that struggle, they made a simple but powerful declaration. The people of South Africa shall be free and that South Africa belongs to all who live in it.
When freedom came it was not a political transition. It was moral transformation. And at the centre of that transformation stands our constitution.
It is not just a legal document. It is a shield against injustice. A foundation for equality. A promise to every citizen that through it South Africa will never be governed by exclusion. Dignity will never be denied to the citizens of South Africa and freedom will never be reserved for a few.
Our freedom resulted and the right to speak and be heard. The right to move and belong. The right to vote and shape our future. The right to live with dignity. Our constitution ensured that freedom is not a slogan but a live reality.
In the 32 years of our democracy, we have built a progressive constitutional democracy, firmly anchored in the rule of law, with an independent judiciary that serves as a guardian of the rights of all.
We have expanded access to healthcare, housing, education, water and electricity on an unprecedented scale.
We have transformed our education system that was used to perpetuate oppression to ensure universal access to education by introducing no-fee schools to expand access to education to children from poor households. Our National School Nutrition Programme feeds more than nine million learners every single day.
Through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, we have made tertiary education accessible to students from low-income households.
Last year, we recorded the highest matric pass rate in the history of South Africa.
Since the dawn of our democracy, we have steadily worked to expand access to quality health care for all. We have built clinics and hospitals, provided free health care to pregnant women and young children, reduced child mortality and increased life expectancy.
Now we are working together to establish the National Health Insurance – the NHI – so that every person in this country has equal access to quality health care regardless of their ability to pay.
We are making progress on land reform, restoring land to many of those dispossessed since the introduction of the 1913 Natives Land Act and continuing to support its productive use.
The Free State is one of the provinces that is leading the country in providing comprehensive agricultural support to emerging and aspiring farmers.
Over the last 32 years, we have used our broad-based black economic empowerment policies to expand the participation of black South Africans, women and persons with disability in the economy.
We have begun to redress the economic injustices of our past, expanding ownership, control and management of our economy beyond a privileged few.
The progress we have made is evident in improvements in the income and quality of life of African, coloured and Indian South Africans and the gradual reduction in inequality between races.
But this is not enough. There is much more that needs to be done.
That is why we are working to strengthen our broad-based black economic empowerment policies, to make them more effective and more efficient – to ensure that they actually deliver the fundamental changes that our economy needs.
Dignity means that people must be able to live free from fear and violence.
To give greater effect to our freedom, we have dedicated greater resources and effort to tackling organised crime, gangsterism, gender-based violence and other forms of violent crime.
We are reforming and strengthening the criminal justice system, rooting out corruption and building a police service and a prosecuting authority in which people can have trust and confidence.
We call on all South Africans to be part of this work, to build communities, homes, schools and workplaces that are safe and secure.
Today we take the opportunity to reflect, renew and reaffirm our commitment to the social contract we entered into 32 years ago.
This is a compact that demands active citizenship, democratic oversight and a State that delivers justice, services, opportunity and dignity in return for public trust.
This is a solemn agreement that must be renewed in every interaction between the state and the people to whom it is accountable, in every service delivered and in every life improved.
The Government of National Unity is determined to drive inclusive growth and job creation, to reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living, and to build a capable, ethical and developmental state.
This means we must address and overcome the many challenges facing South Africans today.
Failing water infrastructure, collapsing municipalities and deteriorating services are not mere inconveniences. They directly affect the quality of daily life. They constrain the growth of businesses and the creation of jobs.
Our resolve to strengthen local government provides an opportunity to transform municipalities, making them better run, more efficient and more responsive to the needs of our people.
This is important because the truest test of our democracy is whether freedom translates into material change in people’s lives.
Dignity starts with the most basic things: a roof over one’s head, clean running water, reliable electricity. Freedom is about the ability to go to a clinic when one is are sick, to have a school for one’s children, and being provided for in old age.
Advancing human dignity is the promise of our Constitution and the fundamental value from which all other human rights flow.
It is in pursuit of this fundamental value that we set out in the 2026 State of the Nation Address an ambitious economic agenda anchored in massive infrastructure investment, structural reforms and economic transformation.
We are removing obstacles to investment, making our economy more competitive and fixing key state-owned enterprises like Eskom and Transnet.
We are working with all social partners to grow industries that create jobs, such as agriculture, mining, tourism, manufacturing, renewable energy and digital industries.
It is to advance human dignity that we continue to act without fear or favour against those who undermine the promise of freedom.
Every rand stolen is an attack on our democracy.
Every project that is not completed is a betrayal of a community.
We will not rest until those who have hollowed out our institutions and diverted public resources for private gain are held to account.
No society can be free and equal while women and children continue to live in fear.
We must therefore do more to end gender-based violence.
When we held the Free State Men’s Indaba here in Bloemfontein last year, I said:
“South Africa does not need a so-called new generation of men. It needs the men and boys of this generation to do better, and to be better. We need men who are protectors of women, not perpetrators. Men of South Africa must stand up and be counted, and say: Not in our Name.”
That is the challenge that we, the men of South Africa, need to take up on this Freedom Day.
Fellow South Africans,
We did not walk alone into freedom.
We were carried by a tide of solidarity from the nations of Africa, among many others.
These countries opened their borders to our liberation fighters. They shared their bread and their homes. They spoke for us when we could not speak for ourselves.
The leaders and people of Africa kept our struggle alive.
It cannot be, and it must never be, that we trample into the dust the African fellowship that made our freedom possible.
We are a people who live the value of ubuntu.
We should never allow the legitimate concerns of our communities about illegal migration to breed prejudice towards our fellow Africans.
We must not allow these concerns to give rise to xenophobia, directed towards people from other African countries or other any parts of the world.
Instead, we must insist that the law be upheld and enforced.
That is why we are clamping down on illegal migration and on businesses that flout our laws by hiring undocumented persons at the expense of our citizens.
We are actively rooting out corruption in our immigration system.
We will not allow people to take the law into their own hands.
We extend hospitality to those who are guests in our country, with the expectation that generosity is honoured with respect for our society and its laws.
As a nation that defeated colonialism and apartheid through international solidarity, we carry a responsibility to advance constitutional values beyond our borders.
We remain committed to multilateralism, respect for international law and principled diplomacy.
International law was born from the devastation of global conflict. It is a shield for all countries, regardless of their size or influence.
True multilateralism demands respect for diversity while remaining firm on core principles: sovereignty, human rights, accountability and peaceful coexistence.
This Freedom Day stands as a reminder that political liberation was never the final destination. It was the beginning of a longer journey towards economic freedom and social justice.
Let us continue to work together, sparing neither strength nor courage, to complete the unfinished task: the realisation of freedom that is grounded in justice, dignity and prosperity for all.
Our future will not be built by forgetting where we come from, but by acting with courage on what we have learned – united by one Constitution, bound by a collective responsibility to each other, and in pursuit of a shared destiny.
The Freedom were celebrating today belongs to all of us.
It does not belong to one party. It does not belong to one generation.
It belongs to the people of South Africa – past, present and future.
Let us protect it. Let us uphold it. Let us live by it.
And so, as we reflect on how far we have come, and as we look to the future we must still build, let us remember this:
The freedom we enjoy today was not handed to us – it was fought for by our people and secured forever by our Constitution.
Let us be worthy of that freedom.
Let us deepen it. Let us defend it. And let us ensure that it is felt by every South African, every day.
May God bless South Africa.
Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika.
Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso.
God seën Suid-Afrika.
Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika.
Hosi katekisa Afrika.
Kea leboga.
I thank you.
