Today I am reminded of the meaning of the Khoisan inscribing on our Coat of Arms – !ke e: /xarra //ke. At the unveiling of the Coat of Arms, Thabo Mbeki spoke about the importance of our humanity and said that we will never be fully human if any people is wiped off the face of the earth, because each one of us is a particle of the complete whole. He said that the inclusion of this extinct language is South Africa’s commitment to value life.
This year marks our 26th year of freedom. With our freedom comes responsibilities. South Africans have given up some of their most important freedoms during #lockdown to save lives, showing our commitment to the value of human life. United we stand in our diversity.
The theme that has been set for this year is: Solidarity and Triumph of the Human Spirit in these Challenging times. Below is an extract of Thabo Mbeki’s speech at the unveiling of our coat of arms in April 2000 to remind us of the importance of our humanity. In addition, National Museum historians, Dr Mariaan Botes and Khotso Pudomo reflect on Freedom Day under lockdown.
“A central image of our new coat of arms is the legendary Secretary Bird with its uplifted wings. This over-arching protector is a bird which slays serpents and thus protects us against those who would do us harm.
Above the bird is the rising sun, a force that gives life while it represents the flight of darkness and the triumph of discovery, knowledge, the understanding of things that have been hidden, illuminating also the new life that is coming into being – our new nation as it is born and evolves.
Below the bird, is the protea, an indigenous flower of our land which represents beauty, the aesthetic harmony of our cultures, our flowering as a nation as we grow towards the sun.
The ears of wheat are emblems of the fertility of our land which has provided sustenance to our people for millennia as it will do in perpetuity.
The tusks of the African elephant, reproduced in pairs to represent men and women, symbolise wisdom, steadfastness and strength.
At the centre stands a shield which signifies the protection of our being from one generation to the other. Above it repose a spear and a knobkierie. Together, this ensemble asserts the defence of peace rather than a posture of war.
This shield of peace, that also suggests an African drum, thus, simultaneously, conveys the message of a people imbued with love for culture, its upper part as a shield being imaginatively represented by the protea.
Contained within the shield are some of the earliest representations of the human person in the world.
Those depicted, who were the very first inhabitants of our land, the Khoisan people, speak to our commitment to celebrate humanity and to advance the cause of the fulfilment of all human beings in our country and throughout the world.
These figures are derived from images on the Linton Stone, a world famous example of South African Rock Art.
They are depicted in an attitude of greeting, demonstrating the transformation of the individual into a social being who belongs to a collective and interdependent humanity.
The motto of our new Coat of Arms, written in the Khoisan language of the /Xam people, means: diverse people unite or people who are different join together.
We have chosen an ancient language of our people. This language is now extinct as no one lives who speaks it as his or her mother-tongue.
This emphasises the tragedy of the millions of human beings who, through the ages, have perished and even ceased to exist as peoples, because of peoples inhumanity to others.
It also says that we, ourselves, can never be fully human if any people is wiped off the face of the earth, because each one of us is a particle of the complete whole.
By inscribing these words on our Coat of Arms – !ke e: /xarra //ke – we make a commitment to value life, to respect all languages and cultures and to oppose racism, sexism, chauvinism and genocide.
Thus do we pledge to respect the obligation which human evolution has imposed on us – to honour the fact that in this country that we have inherited together is to be found one of the birthplaces of humanity itself.
Here in the language of our ancient past, we speak to present generations and those who are still to come about the importance of human solidarity and unity.
We say that in the heart of every individual resides an inner necessity, an essential humanity that compels each person, each people, to unite with another. This impulse and this conscious action makes us who we are and tells us where we as a South African people want to go.
The design carries within it images of the egg, symbolising the eternal reproduction of life. It is this forward movement that must take us to the African Century and the victory of the African Renaissance.
I ask you all who are gathered here today to embrace this Coat of Arms as your own, to own it as a common possession, representing the aspirations of a winning nation that is conscious of the challenges that lie ahead and is confident of its capacity to overcome its difficulties. “
Ex-president Thabo Mbeki
Address at the unveiling of the coat of arms, kwaggafontein, 27 April 2000
FREEDOM DAY MESSAGE FROM DR. MARIAAN BOTES
‘Valuing Our Freedom in Difficult Times’
Freedom Day on 27 April is a public holiday and the annual celebration of South Africa’s first non-racial democratic elections of 1994. This day is significant because it marks the end of apartheid, segregation and white minority rule.
The 1994 election paved the way towards a new democratic dispensation and a new constitution for our country. The elections took place in a peaceful and festive atmosphere, although there were threats of political violence. Of South Africa’s 22, 7 million eligible voters, 19.7 million voted in the 1994 national election. The first democratic elections on 27 April 1994 gave birth to our constitutional democracy. For the majority of South Africans who had never voted before their dignity was restored and the country transformed to a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society.
Although the ANC gained a majority vote, they formed a Government of National Unity, headed by the then president of the ANC’s Nelson Mandela who became the first democratically elected President of the country.
Speaking at the first anniversary of South Africa’s non-racial elections President Mandela said in parliament: “As dawn ushered in this day, the 27th of April 1995, few of us could suppress the welling of emotion, as we were reminded of the terrible past from which we come as a nation; the great possibilities that we now have; and the bright future that beckons us. And so we assemble here today, and in other parts of the country, to mark a historic day in the life of our nation. Wherever South Africans are across the globe, our hearts beat as one, as we renew our common loyalty to our country and our commitment to its future. The birth of our South African nation has, like any other, passed through a long and often painful process. The ultimate goal of a better life has yet to be realised. On this day, you, the people, took your destiny into your own hands…”
Since political freedom in 1994 South Africans strove to correct the wrongs of the past. We are still faced with a number of challenges such as crime, poverty, unemployment, corruption, racism and sexism amongst others. Freedom Day affords South Africans the opportunity to make a pledge towards fighting against the legacy of racism and economic inequality as well as renewing their loyalty to their country and their commitment to its future.
The 2020 Freedom Month is commemorated under the theme ‘Valuing Our Freedom in Difficult Times’. May we always value our democracy and our freedom. It is in our hands!
FREEDOM DAY MESSAGE FROM KHOTSO PUDOMO
Never for granted
During Freedom Day celebrations in 2008, former president Thabo Mbeki in his last speech as South Africa’s Head of State remarked: “The brutalities of the past – detentions without trial, disappearances of our people, deaths in detentions, hangings of those opposed to apartheid, imprisonment, exile, massacres, assassinations, forced removals, banishments, the Group Areas Act and many more laws that made the lives of black people unbearable – are testimonies that our freedom was never free. Although today we walk tall because our collective efforts culminated in the 27th of April being our Freedom Day, we all still carry scars that remind us that our freedom that is at times taken for granted, was never free…”
These remarks remain relevant, especially during this period in which South Africans find themselves under lockdown due to the spread of the 21st century’s first pandemic, the spread of the dangerous Coronavirus (COVID-19). Lockdown with its restriction of freedom of movement, trade and insistence on social distancing which impacts on the right to freedom assembly, have features similar to the old apartheid days. This is therefore a timeous reminder to young and old about the precious nature of hard-won freedoms – rights that most of us tends to take for granted.
Freedom Day on 27 April is therefore more than merely an annual celebration of South Africa’s first non-racial democratic elections of 1994. It was significant as it marked the end of over three hundred years of colonialism, segregation and the restoration of both black dignity and national reconciliation. Thus as we fight the Coronavirus – let’s remember…..
Happy Freedom Day, South Africa and stay safe.
Source: https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/freedom-day-27-april
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