Freedom Day: Ramaphosa not feeling well as country marks 31 years of freedom

As the country marks 31 years of freedom, President Cyril Ramaphosa will get some rest as he battles the flu.

Ramaphosa was expected to deliver the keynote address at the national Freedom Day celebration at the AJ Swanepoel Stadium in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, on Sunday under the theme “United in Resilience for the Defence of Our Freedom and Democracy”.

Ramaphosa not well

However, the president is not feeling well. “He has flu and has been advised to rest for this to clear.” Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told The Citizen.

Ramaphosa wished the nation well on this Freedom Day.

Acting President Gwede Mantashe will deliver the keynote address instead.

Meanwhile, the ANC said the dawn of democracy on the 27th April 1994 was a “significant milestone.”

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Democratic elections

For the first time in 31 years, non-white South Africans finally got to have their say in how the country is run.

Millions waited in snaking queues to vote for the first time in democratic elections as late former president Nelson Mandela cast South Africa’s first democratic ballot.

This year’s Freedom Day is the first following the formation of South Africa’s first-ever national coalition government under the government of national unity (GNU).

‘New chapter’

ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the historic day marked the “beginning of a new chapter in the  liberation struggle.”

“As an organisation rooted in society, today the African National Congress (ANC) joins

the nation in reflecting on the epic journey as we join South Africans in commemorating Freedom Day.

“We commemorate this historic moment in the year when we declared that “The People Shall Govern” and  “The People Shall Share in the Country’s Wealth” as our loadstar guiding us to renew to make the ANC a more effective instrument of the people to achieve the vision of the Freedom Charter,” Bhengu-Motsiri said.

Freedom

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) also joined the country to mark Freedom Day 2025.

The SAHC said Freedom Day is a reminder that many rights that people have and are able to exercise today were not freely attained.

“Many people who dared the apartheid regime were displaced, tortured and killed for rightfully demanding fundamental human rights such as equality, freedom and justice for all as enshrined in the Freedom Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

“As the country gathers to celebrate Freedom Day, the Commission calls upon those in authority at every sphere of government to use the opportunity to revisit the Constitutional imperatives and the Bill of Rights,” the SAHRC said.

Freedom charter

Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said this year’s occasion coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Freedom Charter, adopted on 26 June 1955.

“South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people,” Mothapo said.

“Today, South Africa proudly marks 31 years of freedom and democracy, commemorating the historic 1994 elections that ended centuries of colonialism and apartheid oppression.

“This day reminds us not only of the sacrifices of those who fought for justice but also of the collective responsibility we carry to protect and advance the hard-won freedoms that define our nation,” Mothapo said.

Several political parties are also holding Freedom Day rallies across the country.

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