All South Africans were called upon to join the fight against crime and corruption by President Thabo Mbeki in his Freedom Day speech at Bhisho in the Eastern Cape on Friday.
”There is a minority in our country who have made crime their business, who terrorise our communities, robbing our people … raping women and children … using unimaginable violence on law-abiding citizens of our country,” Mbeki said at the Bhisho Stadium.
”We call on our people to renew their pledge for partnerships at community levels …to form and strengthen partnerships, to join community police forums, to create street and area committees so that together we can effectively fight crime.”
South Africans should identify and report criminals to police, he said.
If the local police do not act, communities should contact provincial and national police commissioners, safety and security provincial ministers and the national minister.
Mbeki called on citizens to not ”sit on the sidelines” when a neighbour or relative is engaged in crime and to then blame the police for not doing anything about crime.
Corrupt government officials and public should be exposed thorough community partnerships, he said.
All sectors of society should join forces to achieve social cohesion and build national unity, he said.
”We need to dedicate ourselves to the building of a socially cohesive nation, always working to create a common identity as South Africans, united in diversity, bound together by the same vision of creating a truly non-racial, non-sexist society based on the values of ubuntu.”
Since democracy, South Africa has traversed a long journey of bringing together a nation ”fractured by a deeply entrenched system of institutionalised racism”.
Mbeki urged people to fight racism wherever it appears.
South Africans were asked to rededicate themselves to build a ”better society” in which poverty, unemployment, homelessness and economic marginalisation can be defeated.
Mbeki highlighted the emancipation and empowerment of women, saying women should be prioritised in job-creation, business development and black economic empowerment.
The youth should act as a vanguard against crime, drug abuse, women and child abuse and set their sights on education and obtaining scarce skills required in the country.
In conclusion, Mbeki said Freedom Day represents a call to ”sustain the national effort that brought about freedom”.
This is critical to consolidate democracy and promote non-sexism and non-racialism.
”It enjoins us to fight and defeat crime and corruption. It calls on all South Africans to unite and defeat poverty and underdevelopment. It calls on all of us to work in partnership for a better future.” — Sapa