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Deputy president Paul Mashatile said South Africa will stand firm on policies that address historical injustices amid external pressure. (Supplied/GCIS)
- Deputy President Paul Mashatile addressed a Human Rights Day event in Kariega, Eastern Cape.
- Mashatile said South Africa would not disregard its policies aimed at redress.
- He also said Trump's freeze on aid highlighted the urgent need to build a resilient, self-reliant healthcare system.
Deputy President Paul Mashatile has vowed that South Africa will stand firm on policies that address historical injustices amid external pressure.
Mashatile reaffirmed the government's stance on Friday as he delivered the Human Rights Day address in Kariega, Eastern Cape.
Mashatile's utterances come amid a standoff between Pretoria and Washington over the Expropriation Act, among other things.
The deputy president said he was pleased that other speakers had cited landlessness, land ownership, and land redistribution at the event.
He said President Cyril Ramaphosa's signing the bill into law would address the issue.
Mashatile said:
We would like to reiterate that South Africa, as a sovereign state, would not disregard its policies and activities aimed at rectifying historical injustices due to external pressure.
"We are confident that we have chosen the correct path to establishing an equitable society, and we will not deviate from it," Mashatile said.
Mashatile also addressed US President Donald Trump's freeze on aid, saying HIV and AIDS programmes would continue.
He said Trump's freeze on aid has highlighted the urgent need to build a resilient and self-reliant healthcare system.
"We can't cry over the withdrawal of Pepfar funding. We need to stand on our own; those programmes will continue, whether the Americans like it or not: HIV/AIDs programmes will continue.
"To this effect, our government is developing contingency plans to mitigate the impact of reduced funding, protect those affected by HIV/AIDS, and uphold human rights commitments. Government remains committed to ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030," Mashatile said.
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Human Rights Day, commemorated on 21 March, marks the tragic events of 21 March 1960, when the apartheid regime gunned down unarmed protesters in Sharpeville for standing up against the oppressive pass laws.
Political parties also commemorated the day.
Rise Mzansi national chairperson and Gauteng legislature MPL Vuyiswa Ramokgopa said: "It should never be lost on us what happened to achieve our democracy, and what more needs to be done to ensure that freedom, democracy and human rights are experienced by all.
Ramakgopa said this had become crucial at a time when some believe that the South Africa of today is more racist than apartheid South Africa.
"So much so that that they deliberately lie to South Africa and the world about the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act, the Expropriation Act, and other laws designed as per the Constitution," Ramokgopa said.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri called on South Africans "to resist any divisive narratives that seek to pit communities against each other or falsely claim that any group is oppressed in our democratic South Africa".
"The ANC reaffirms its unwavering commitment to human rights, transformation, and nation-building, ensuring that all people, regardless of race, gender, or background, enjoy the freedoms and opportunities guaranteed by our hard-won democracy," she said.
