Forced removals will never be allowed again, Ramaphosa assures South Africans.

By Lehlohonolo Lehana.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the pain and poverty wrought by the Natives Land Act of 1913 on millions of South Africans was still evident in communities across the country.

Ramaphosa was replying to the debate on his State of the Nation address (SONA).

The reply follows a two-day debate on the address by Members of Parliament at the joint sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

“Over the course of two decades, the apartheid regime forcibly removed more than 3.5 million people in District Six, Sophiatown, Marabastad, Cato Manor, Kroonstad, Nelspruit and many other places across the country,” Ramaphosa told the National Assembly.

“It was one of the largest mass removals of people in modern history.”

Some of the MPs in the house remember the agony of their families being forced from District Six, a stone’s throw from parliament, he added. 

“There are millions more across the country who still experience the effects of this monstrous crime. The people of this country know the pain of forced removals. That is why we will never allow forced removals again.”

“And I repeat, we will not be bullied from our intent to work together,” he added, with reference to his SoNA speech – one made against the backdrop of a threatened withdrawal of American aid, which Donald Trump formalised days later in an order titled ‘Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa’.

Ramaphosa also lamented the poor level of debate, said he expected MPs to debate issues that directly affected the country.

Ramaphosa told the MPs that as much as he understands that they need to be critical of his speech, they were too focused on positions held by their different political parties. He said they failed to properly debate the contents of his speech and come up with tangible solutions because they were too focused on their political parties’ stances on various issues.

“Some speakers held firm to the denialism and distortions demanded by their party positions. This debate illustrated the dangers of retreating to corners isolating ourselves in ideological, cultural, racial and linguistic enclaves and hardly ever engaging beyond our immediate circles,” said Ramaphosa.

“This is what makes our forthcoming national dialogue so important. South Africans informed by their different lived experiences can discuss the many challenges facing our nation and develop common solutions. And this is what I would have wanted to see coming out of this debate,” he said.

“As South Africans we have sat around the negotiating tables and forged agreements under much more trying and fraught circumstances. The journey we are embarking upon now through the national dialogue will result in a concrete process to become more united and stronger in the face of many political, social and economic challenges that we face globally and locally.”

Ramaphosa expressed confidence in the ability of the Government of National Unity (GNU) to navigate the “different political and ideological perspectives” of participating parties, stating that “ways of mediating our differences” were being found in the interests of stability and economic growth.