South Africa has made great progress in confronting its apartheid legacy, which continues however to deprive Black South Africans of opportunities, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Tuesday. 

“The legacy of apartheid remains a defining feature of our land. Even after nearly three decades, it continues in many ways to determine where people will live, what assets they own, what schooling they receive, what jobs they can do, and how safe they feel,” Ramaphosa said in his Freedom Day speech. 

The day is commemorated to remember the first democratic elections held in South Africa on April 27, 1994. 

These were the first post-apartheid national elections to be held in the country where anyone could vote regardless of race. 

Prior to 1994, Black South Africans were not allowed to vote. During apartheid, Blacks lived in townships and shanty towns and were required to produce passes whenever they traveled out of their settlements. Black South Africans were subject to racial oppression and subjugation for many years. 

Blacks were also not allowed to mingle with whites. Most of their townships lacked basic services or had substandard service delivery. 

However, the first multiracial parliamentary elections saw a landslide victory by the African National Congress (ANC). 

The new parliament elected ANC leader and national liberation hero Nelson Mandela as South Africa's first Black president.

“As we celebrate this Freedom Day, we can point to the great progress we have made in confronting the apartheid legacy – from the provision of water and electricity to millions, to opening the doors of learning to the children of the poor, to the provision of health care, to lifting millions of people out of poverty,” Ramaphosa said in his speech. 

But the South African leader noted that the country cannot celebrate Freedom Day without acknowledging how much further it still needs to go. 

He called on the electorate to use their votes in upcoming local government elections in October to demonstrate their intolerance for corruption, theft and mismanagement of funds meant to benefit citizens. 

“Demonstrate to them that you do not approve of the way they are running things, stealing money. Vote them out if they are abusing resources and take them out with your vote,” he said.  

Turkey congratulates South Africa

Turkey on Tuesday congratulated South Africa on its Freedom Day national holiday. 

On Twitter, the Turkish Foreign Ministry noted that diplomatic ties between the two countries had been established in 1993. 

It added that Turkey's recently established consulate-general in Cape Town opened its doors on Sept. 10, 2020. 

Last year, the trade volume between the two countries totaled $1.46 billion, it said, adding the most recent political consultations had been held on Dec. 8, 2020 via videoconference due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Turkey and South Africa also last held a Joint Economic Commission Meeting on Oct. 5, 2017 in Pretoria, it said./aa