Programme Director,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Veterans of our struggle,
Leaders of our future,
Distinguished Guests,
Fellow South Africans,

Sanibonani. Dumelang. Avuxeni. Molweni. Ndi matsheloni. Lotjhani. Goeie môre. Good morning. 

It is a profound honour to stand before you today to launch the Milestones of Freedom programme.

Over the course of the next year, our nation will together remember where we have come from. We will honour those who carried us here. And we will renew the promise we made to one another at the dawn of our democracy. 

In the span of a few short months, the calendar of our history brings together four anniversaries that, woven together, tell a story of who we are as a people. 

They speak of oppression and dispossession, of courage and resistance, and of restoration and rebuilding. 

Seventy years ago, on the 9th of August 1956, in the very place that we gather today, some 20,000 women of every colour and creed converged to demand an end to injustice and discrimination. 

They came from the cities and the countryside, from the factories and the farms, many with their children strapped to their backs. 

They came to say to the apartheid state, in a single defiant voice, that they would not carry the hated dompas. 

They stood in silence for thirty minutes. And then they sang the words that have echoed through the decades: Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo. You strike the women, you strike a rock. 

We pay tribute to the women who carried thousands of petitions to the door of Prime Minister JG Strijdom: Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophie De Bruyn. 

We remember the thousands whose names history did not record but whose courage built the foundation on which our democracy stands. 

Those women taught us that there can be no freedom for our nation while half of our people are not free. 

Today, we honour those women not only with our words, but with our determination to finish the work they began. 

Sixty years ago, in February 1966, the apartheid government declared District Six in Cape Town a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act. 

In the years that followed, more than 60,000 people were torn from their homes, their shops, their mosques and their churches, and scattered across the Cape Flats. 

A vibrant and diverse community – a place where people of many faiths and origins had lived side by side for generations – was reduced to rubble. 

The people of District Six were not alone in their fate. 

Across our country, over many decades, the same cruelty was unleashed upon the people of Sophiatown, of Cato Manor and of countless other places whose names are written in the memories of the dispossessed. 

Today, as families return to the land that was stolen from them, we are reminded of our solemn responsibility to achieve redress for all the people of our land. 

Fifty years ago, on the 16th of June 1976, the children of Soweto walked out of their classrooms and into history. 

They were schoolchildren who refused to be taught in the language of their oppressor. They refused to bend their knee to a system designed to keep them in servitude. 

Their peaceful protest was answered with teargas, bullets, arrest and torture. 

We will never forget the young people who fell that day in Soweto, and in the days and years that followed across this land. 

The youth of 1976 changed the course of our history. They showed the world that a system built on injustice could not endure forever. 

They reminded us that young people are not only the leaders of tomorrow. They are the conscience, the voice and the pioneers of the present. 

Thirty years ago, on the 8th of May 1996 – having endured all these hardships, having resisted the pass laws, the forced removals and the injustice of Bantu Education, and having fought a courageous struggle for freedom – the people of South Africa adopted a new democratic Constitution.

The Constitution begins with the words: ‘We, the people of South Africa.’

In doing so, the Constitution reaffirms the fundamental principle that this country belongs to all who live in it, black and white, united in our diversity.

Our Constitution declared that we would heal the divisions of the past. 

That we would establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights. 

That every person – regardless of race, gender or belief – would be equal before the law and equal in dignity. 

This Constitution is our inheritance from the generations of freedom fighters who came before us, and it is the birthright we hold in trust for those who come after us. 

When we remember these milestones, we do not see them as artefacts of the past.

We see them as the foundations on which we need to build. 

They are a reminder of the work we still have to do.

There are still South Africans who go to bed hungry, still young people without work, still communities living in fear of criminals.

There are still South Africans waiting for the dignity that freedom promised. 

We do not gather here to declare that our long walk to freedom is complete.

Rather we gather here to acknowledge the great progress that we have achieved together as free South Africans, and affirm our commitment to complete the task that history has bestowed upon us.

Since the dawn of democracy, millions who lived in darkness now have electricity. 

Millions who carried water from distant rivers now have clean water flowing from a tap. Together, we have built millions of homes and thousands of clinics and schools. 

Through the provision of social grants and free basic services, we have improved the quality of life of children, the elderly, persons with disabilities and families across the country. 

For the women of South Africa, we have opened doors that were once bolted shut. 

Women hold positions of leadership in government, in our courts, in our boardrooms, in our universities and colleges, and in many other areas of our national life. 

We have done much to advance the education of the girl child, achieving gender parity in access to schooling and seeing female learners excelling in matric and in further studies.

We have put in place laws and programmes that advance the position of women in the workplace and in the economy more broadly.

We have placed the fight against gender-based violence and femicide at the centre of our national agenda, because a country where women are not safe is a country that is not yet free. 

The work is far from done, but we can say that through our collective efforts the daughters of Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophie de Bruyn are rising. 

For our young people, we have made school accessible to more children than ever before, with no-fee schools and daily meals for those who would otherwise learn on an empty stomach. 

Through financial aid, we have opened the gates of universities and colleges to the children of workers and the poor.

And we are investing in the skills, the enterprises and the opportunities that turn the potential of young South Africans into meaningful livelihoods.

We have made great progress in returning the land to its original owners through our land restitution process. We have undertaken extensive redistribution of white-owned agricultural land to black farmers. We have given many rural dwellers security of tenure.

Despite this progress, this work is not complete. We are committed to continue until we can say with confidence that the land belongs to all who work it and need it.

This is what freedom has built. 

The Milestones of Freedom programme is a recommitment. It calls us to the work that remains. 

It calls us to grow an economy that includes everyone, not only the few. 

To achieve this, we are removing the obstacles to investment, fixing our energy supply, rebuilding our ports and railways, and backing the small businesses and entrepreneurs who create the most jobs. 

An economy that is inclusive and growing – that reaches every township and village – is the surest instrument we have against poverty. 

 An economy that creates jobs, particularly for young people, is the greatest guarantor of a secure and prosperous future. 

We continue to expand the pathways from the classroom to the workplace.

We are strengthening our partnerships with business, labour and civil society so that no young South African is left to wait, year after year, for a chance that never comes. 

We are intensifying the fight against poverty and hunger, protecting the most vulnerable while creating the job opportunities that allow families to stand on their own. 

We are focused on the education that shapes a child's destiny.

We are investing in early learning, lifting the quality of our schools and equipping our young people for the world they will inherit. 

And we are building a health system that serves all our people, ensuring that access to quality health care is never again determined by a person’s ability to pay. 

We are working to confront crime and corruption without fear or favour, because South Africans deserve to feel safe in their homes and on their streets. 

We are rebuilding our police, our prosecution service and all our law enforcement institutions.

We are pursuing those who stole from the people, because money looted through corruption is money taken from a clinic, a classroom, a child. 

We are building a capable, ethical state that serves the people, a state where public representatives and officials understand that they are there to serve citizens. 

We do this work in a spirit of partnership. 

The milestones we honour this year were made by ordinary people, working together, who decided that they would not rely on others to determine their fate. 

That is the spirit we must rekindle. Freedom is not a monument we visit once a year. 

It is a responsibility we carry every day. 

So today we issue a call to activism, a call to service, a call to participate.

This is a call to all of us, to volunteer in a school, to mentor a young person, to clean a street, to grow a business. 

It is a call to serve on a school governing body, to report corruption, to prevent violence against women.

It is a call to vote in every election and to hold to account those that are elected into public office. 

This is a call to register to vote this weekend, on the 20th and 21st of June.

If we are to honour those who came before us, we should all of us be active participants in the National Dialogue that is taking place across the country.

We must attend the public dialogues that are going to take place in our wards, in our sectors and in our organisations. 

We should add our voice to the millions of people who will be charting a new way forward for our country.

This nation belongs to all of us, and it will be only as strong, as just and as free as we are willing to make it. 

As we launch the Milestones of Freedom, let us hold all four of these anniversaries in our hands at once: the women, the children and the dispossessed and the Constitution that turned their dreams into a promise of a better future. 

We are the inheritors of their courage. We are the keepers of their dream. 

And we are, every one of us, the authors of what South Africa will become. 

Let us, together, build the South Africa of which our forebears dared to dream, united in our diversity, equal in our dignity and free at last. 

May God bless South Africa.
Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika.
Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso. 
God seën Suid-Afrika. 
Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika.
Hosi katekisa Afrika.

I thank you.
 

The Deputy Minister in The Presidency, Ms Nonceba Mhlauli, will on Friday, 19 June 2026, present the Quarter 4 Progress Report of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI), providing an update on Government’s efforts to create pathways to earning opportunities for young people across South Africa.

The media briefing will outline the progress made during the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year and highlight the impact of the PYEI in connecting young people to work opportunities, entrepreneurship support, skills development programmes, and work-readiness initiatives.

The briefing will also reflect on key partnerships that continue to drive innovation and expand opportunities for youth participation in the economy.

Members of the media are invited to attend the briefing as follows:

Date: Friday, 19 June 2026
Time: 13h00
Venue: GCIS Media Centre, Hatfield, Pretoria

Media enquiries: Sandile Dayi on 072 667 0757

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria
 

President Cyril Ramaphosa has today, 17 June 2026, convened a meeting with religious and interfaith leaders at the Union Buildings, Pretoria, to discuss migration and the national dialogue. The meeting follows the government’s announcement of comprehensive measures to manage migration. 

South Africa has recently experienced a wave of anti-illegal migration protest. South Africans from every walk of life have raised concerns about migration, and illegal immigration in particular. 

These concerns arise in conditions of persistently high unemployment, poverty and hardship. They arise in communities that are plagued by crime, violence and corruption – and where there is increasing pressure on public services.

President Ramaphosa emphasised that illegal immigration is not the cause of South Africa’s social and economic difficulties.

“To tackle the challenges our country faces, we need faster and more inclusive growth, investment and the creation of jobs. We need to strengthen our efforts to tackle poverty and hunger. We must build safer communities by addressing the causes of crime, improving policing and ending corruption.

Migration is not the cause of our problems, but it is something that we must manage constructively and collectively, always holding firm to our Constitutional principles and shared values.”

President Ramaphosa called on the religious and interfaith leaders to work together with government and other social partners to ensure that people’s frustration is never turned into hatred, and that the stranger among us is met with the dignity that all our faith and traditions demand.

“We must demonstrate that there is a better way to manage these genuine concerns – a way that builds cohesion in communities and strengthens the bonds between us”, said President Ramaphosa.

National Dialogue:
President Ramaphosa added the importance of the National Dialogue, which together with the issue migration touches on the values that binds all South Africans as a nation and the shared responsibility to build a better future for the people of South Africa.

President Ramaphosa highlighted the vital role of the faith communities in the success of the National Dialogue and the need to ensure genuine inclusivity of the process.

“Faith communities are vital to this endeavour, for you reach into every village, township and suburb. The National Dialogue continues our proud tradition of coming together to confront our challenges, to build consensus and to chart a course for the future. At every defining moment in our history, we have found our way forward through dialogue with one another."

The National Dialogue is a people-led process that unfolds from local dialogue to national gatherings, through which all South Africans are able to define a vision and plan for our country.”, said President Ramaphosa.

The religious and interfaith leaders welcomed the government’s five pillars of managing migration comprehensively. 

The five pillars are:
1. Enforcement of migration laws
2. Securing South Africa’s borders 
3 Strengthening of immigration systems 
4. Closing the gaps in the laws and policies 
5. Working with sister African countries through diplomatic channels 

President Ramaphosa on behalf of the government expressed his appreciation to the religious and interfaith leaders for their response and inputs presented in the meeting. Amongst issues raised by religious and interfaith leaders is the strengthening of law enforcement to respond to cases of vigilantism, amplification of government communications, enhancement of diplomatic interventions and engagement and attendance to the pending situation in Sherwood, Durban in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. 

In response to the situation in Sherwood, Durban, the Department of Home Affairs has begun deportation proceedings through dedicated priority courts that are enabling the accelerated processing of Malawian nationals seeking to leave the country. This is due to a lack of capacity on the Malawian government-initiated repatriation of its citizens.The department of Social Development will also be mobilising resources to assist with providing relief. 
  

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President: media@presidency.gov.za

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria
 

Deputy President Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile, today Wednesday, 17 June 2026, convened a special meeting with the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders, led by Kgosi Seathlolo, together with the Inter‑Ministerial Committee on Migration, chaired by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi.

The meeting reaffirmed Government’s commitment to the Comprehensive Approach for Migration Management, introduced by President Cyril Ramaphosa. 

This five‑pillar plan seeks to curb irregular migration, strengthen border security, and enforce labour and immigration laws, while upholding constitutional values and human dignity.

A detailed presentation was delivered by the Director‑General in the Presidency, Ms Phindile Baleni, outlining the work being undertaken to resolve the challenges posed by undocumented migrants. The presentation emphasized coordinated government action, improved border management, and lawful enforcement measures that respect both sovereignty and human rights.

Traditional leaders highlighted their critical role as custodians of heritage and guardians of community integrity, particularly in rural and borderland communities. 

In this regard, they have pledged to continue supporting efforts to register businesses, keep records of foreign nationals, and mediate tensions in communities affected by migration pressures.

The meeting expressed strong support for the President’s call to implement the five‑pillar plan, noting that migration must be managed in a way that protects South Africa’s sovereignty while strengthening democracy and fostering social cohesion.

Deputy President Mashatile underscored that migration is part of South Africa’s historical and contemporary story, and must be addressed with firmness, fairness, and compassion. Guided by the spirit of Ubuntu, he emphasized that migration should unite rather than divide communities, contributing to a South Africa that is safe, inclusive, and prosperous.

Media enquiries: Mr Keith Khoza, Acting Spokesperson to the Deputy President on 066 195 8840

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria
 

Ministers,
Religious leaders,
Colleagues and Friends,

It is my honour to welcome you to this meeting, which gives us an opportunity to reflect on matters that are important to the life of our country and the progress of our people. 

The faith community in our country has always been more than a place of worship. It has provided moral guidance and spiritual sustenance to our people. 

Over many decades, our faith community has shown deep care about the conditions in which our people live and has worked for peace, justice and equality.

It is in that spirit that we meet today, to reflect together upon two matters: the challenge of migration and our National Dialogue.

Although they may appear to be distinct issues, they both touch on the values that bind us together as a nation and the shared responsibility we have to build a better future for the people of South Africa.

Allow me to begin with migration. 

Over recent months, South Africans from every walk of life have raised concerns about migration, and illegal immigration in particular. 

These concerns are real. They need to be heard and to be addressed. 

These concerns arise in conditions of persistently high unemployment, poverty and hardship. They arise in communities that are plagued by crime, violence and corruption – and where there is increasing pressure on public services.

Yet illegal immigration is not the cause of our social and economic difficulties. 

To tackle the challenges our country faces, we need faster and more inclusive growth, investment and the creation of jobs. 

We need to strengthen our efforts to tackle poverty and hunger. 

We must build safer communities by addressing the causes of crime, improving policing and ending corruption.

Migration is not the cause of our problems, but it is something that we must manage constructively and collectively, always holding firm to our Constitutional principles and shared values.

That is why I addressed the nation on Sunday, the 7th of June, to outline the Comprehensive Approach to Migration Management that Cabinet has adopted.

In that address, I noted that our nation is itself a product of migration. 

Yet every person within our borders must be here lawfully.

I said that responsibility for enforcing our laws rests with the state, and that no individual may stop another to demand documentation or proof of nationality.

I said that no matter how frustrated people may be, there is no place for racism, sexism, xenophobia, Afrophobia or any other form of intolerance.

The comprehensive approach adopted by Cabinet rests upon five pillars.

Firstly, we are cracking down on violations of immigration, labour and other laws.

Secondly, we are securing our borders.

Thirdly, we are strengthening our immigration system by rooting out corruption and deploying advanced technology.

Fourthly, we are closing the gaps in our laws and policies.

Fifthly, we are working with our sister countries through SADC and the African Union to address the conditions that compel people to migrate.

Through these actions, we will demonstrate that we can protect our borders while protecting human dignity. 

We can enforce our laws while upholding our Constitution. 

We can secure our communities while preserving the values of Ubuntu. 

This is a responsibility that falls to all of us. And the faith community has a particularly important role to play.

When fear and anger rise, it is so often the voice of the pulpit, the mosque, the temple and the synagogue that can call our people back to compassion. 

Together, we must work to ensure that frustration is never turned into hatred, and that the stranger among us is met with the dignity that all our faith traditions demand.

We must demonstrate that there is a better way to manage these genuine concerns – a way that builds cohesion in communities and strengthens the bonds between us.

The second issue I would like to address is the National Dialogue. 

The National Dialogue continues our proud tradition of coming together to confront our challenges, to build consensus and to chart a course for the future.
 
At every defining moment in our history, we have found our way forward through dialogue with one another. 

The National Dialogue is a people-led process that unfolds from local dialogue to national gatherings, through which all South Africans are able to define a vision and plan for our country.

For this Dialogue to carry legitimacy, it must be genuinely inclusive. 

It must be a place where every voice is heard and real solutions are found. 

Faith communities are vital to this endeavour, for you reach into every village, township and suburb. 

You speak to conscience and to values in a manner that many others cannot. 

The National Dialogue will inevitably touch the wounds of our nation, and the faith community is ideally placed to help heal these wounds through prayer and practical service.

I therefore invite you to be partners, participants and guarantors of the National Dialogue process.

There are many challenges facing our nation. But we can address them together.

Together, we can build a South Africa that is secure, lawful, compassionate and prosperous, one that upholds the dignity of every person and fulfils the promise of our democracy.

Thank you again for your attendance and I look forward to our discussion.

I thank you.
 

Deputy President Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile will on Thursday, 18 June 2026 respond to Questions for Oral Reply in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in Parliament, Cape Town.

In his capacity as Chairperson of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cabinet Committee and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, the Deputy President will apprise the NCOP on measures in place to detect and prevent corruption in the South African Police Service (SAPS) as well as corrective actions by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in light of the proceedings in the Madlanga Commission.

The Deputy President will further update the House on mechanisms in place to  assess progress of One Plans of the District Development Model in 16 District and Metropolitan Municipalities, monitoring the top five catalytic projects in each One Plan.

Other questions to the Deputy President raised by Delegates to the NCOP include his recent oversight visit to the Cape Flats to assess progress on the implementation of Operation Prosper; Government’s response to the escalating challenge of illegal migration; land reform programme, and the National Water Security Plan.

Details of the sitting are as follows:

Date: Thursday, 18 June 2026
Time: 14h00
Venue: NCOP Old Assembly Chamber, Parliament, Cape Town

The Q&A Session will be streamed live on the Parliamentary Channel 408 and Parliamentary YouTube channel.

 

Media enquiries: Mr Keith Khoza, Acting Spokesperson to the Deputy President, on 066 195 8840

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

Your Excellency, Chair of the African Union, President Évariste Ndayishimiye,
Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government,
Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr António Guterres,
Chairperson of the AU Commission, Mr Mahamoud Ali Youssouf,
Your Excellencies Prime Ministers and Ministers,
Director-General of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,
Director General of the Africa CDC, Dr Jean Kaseya,
Developmental partners, 
Philanthropists, 
Global health institutions, 
Friends,

I thank the Chairperson of the African Union for convening this important meeting at a critical moment for our continent. 

We also welcome and convey our sincere appreciation to the leaders from across the world that have joined us in solidarity.

It has been a month since we last met, where we demonstrated political will and mobilised just under 500 million US dollars in pledges from various countries, global health institutions, banks and philanthropic organisations. 

This is a critical opportunity to take stock and renew our commitments.

Our collective resolve remains vested in the health and livelihoods of our people and the brave health workers who fight this terrible threat on the frontlines. 

We mourn the lives that have been lost to this disease, and convey our condolences to the families and communities that have been affected by the spread of Ebola. 

We support the recently launched Continental Preparedness and Response Plan and are determined to ensure it is adequately financed. 

In this regard, I am pleased to announce that South Africa is increasing its pledge to 13.5 million US dollars as our commitment to solidarity and sovereignty for the people of this continent. 

I call upon all leaders to maintain or increase their pledges, and all those who made pledges at the last meeting to convert them in full into cash, medical countermeasures or technical assistance.

With no vaccine or antiviral, every day that transmission continues unchecked, the human cost rises. 

The West Africa Ebola epidemic demonstrated that delayed action can transform a localised outbreak into a regional and global crisis. 

This is why our response must focus on breaking the transmission and stopping Ebola at its source.

However, our public health measures are being thwarted by the volatile environment in which the response is being undertaken. 

As political leaders, we can help by creating safe corridors for the passage of goods and services. 

We must seek a ceasefire to allow the Ebola response to proceed unhindered.

We must continue to strengthen cross-border collaboration.

We must expand rapid diagnostic testing, contact tracing and community awareness. 

We should be concerned that we have no biotechnology in our arsenal against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.

While we welcome and unreservedly support the efforts of GAVI, CEPI and others, Africa cannot depend indefinitely on external markets and production systems during health emergencies.

The response to Ebola therefore cannot end when this outbreak ends.

This moment must become a turning point. 

As African leaders, we must accelerate investment in local manufacturing, strengthen the African Medicines Agency and operationalise the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism.

African manufacturers must have predictable markets and African countries must have reliable access to lifesaving products in emergencies.

We must all take heed of Africa CDC’s stance against imposing blanket and unsubstantiated travel bans.

I call upon African financial institutions, development banks, philanthropies and the African private sector to join governments in this effort.

I call upon our international partners to continue to stand with Africa in a spirit of solidarity and mutual responsibility. 

We welcome the bold actions being undertaken by the World Bank to free up capital for the response. 

We call on all financing institutions to be as flexible and understanding in this hour of need.

As countries, as a continent and as a global community, our actions must be evidence-based, scientifically sound and mutually accountable. 

The world will not be safe from Ebola until we have eliminated it everywhere.

And when we do eliminate this threat – which we surely will – we must intensify our efforts to build a resilient global health architecture that will safeguard our people now and into the future.

I thank you.
 

His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as the African Union Champion for Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention and Response, will this afternoon, 16 June 2026, participate in a High-Level Virtual Meeting of Heads of State, Government and Partners on the Ebola outbreak.

The meeting has been convened by His Excellency Evariste Ndayishimiye, President of the Republic of Burundi and Chairperson of the African Union. 

It aims to mobilise African and international solidarity to contain the Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, while strengthening preparedness in countries at risk of regional transmission.

The high-level engagement seeks to align political leadership, financial commitments and technical interventions around the joint response and preparedness plan led by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), which is co-leading the response with the World Health Organization (WHO), supported by various international partners.

Heads of State and Government, financing institutions, donor countries and development partners are expected to confirm concrete financial pledges and commitments, including in-kind contributions, technical assistance, logistical support and security-sensitive operational assistance.

The immediate objective is to mobilise resources towards the USD 518 million response and preparedness package required to contain the outbreak, protect vulnerable populations and strengthen regional health security.

The President is expected to deliver a statement at 14h15 (SAST) and we will live stream

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to President Ramaphosa on media@presidency.gov.za

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria
 

Programme Director,
Minister for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Ms Sindisiwe Chikunga,
Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Mr Gayton McKenzie,
Acting Premier of Gauteng, Ms Faith Mazibuko,
Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Councillor Dada Morero,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Members of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures,
Executive Chairperson and Board of the National Youth Development Agency,
Co-Founder and CEO of One Young World, Ms Kate Robertson,
Managing Director of One Young World, Ms Ella Robertson McKay, 
Representatives of youth formations,
Veterans of our liberation struggle,
Distinguished Guests,
And the youth of our beloved nation,
Sanibonani. Dumelang. Avuxeni. Molweni. Ndi matsheloni. Lotjhani. Goeie môre. Good morning.

Fifty years ago, not far from where we stand today, thousands of young South Africans marched carrying nothing but their schoolbooks, their courage and their dreams.

They faced bullets with bare hands. They confronted injustice with extraordinary bravery.

And through their sacrifice, they changed the course of our nation's history.

On the 16th of June the children of Soweto walked out of their classrooms and into history. 

They were told they could not learn in their own language, in their own country, on equal terms. 

They refused that limit. And many of them paid for that refusal with their lives.

We gather here to mark 50 years since the uprising of South Africa’s youth on the 16th June 1976. 

Half a century later, we remember, celebrate and honour a generation of young people whose courage, organisation and hunger for freedom marked a turning point in the struggle against apartheid.

The question before us today is not whether young people have the courage to change South Africa. The youth of 1976 answered that question.

The question before us is whether South Africa is doing enough to create opportunities worthy of their sacrifice.

Speaking on the 20th anniversary of the uprising, President Nelson Mandela addressed the youth of our country. He said:
“On that fateful day 20 years ago, you jolted this nation from its slumber, and rejected the slave education that the apartheid regime had implemented… You changed the course of history, and accelerated the downfall of the apartheid system.”

It was here that thousands of learners left their classrooms to protest against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in their schools. 
But their protest was about more than language. 

It was a rejection of Bantu Education, which was designed to limit the aspirations of black children and prepare them for lives of servitude.

It was a protest against the injustice, impoverishment, denigration and daily hardship imposed upon the black child by the cruel system of apartheid.

From the streets of Soweto issued a powerful cry for justice, for dignity, for equality.

The struggle of young people did not begin with the class of 1976. 

They stood on the shoulders of earlier generations — leaders such as Anton Lembede, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Albertina Sisulu, Lilian Ngoyi and Robert Sobukwe — who moved the liberation struggle towards mass mobilisation and direct action.

They were shaped, too, by a wider current of liberation. Across the continent, the struggles of Ghana, Algeria, Mozambique, Angola and the Congo showed that colonialism could be defeated.

Across the diaspora, the Civil Rights and Black Power movements affirmed the dignity of black people. 

By the early 1970s, the Black Consciousness Movement was teaching a new generation to reject notions of inferiority, to recover their dignity, to reclaim their identity and to forge their own future.

By the time the learners of 1976 took to the streets, they were part of a powerful river of youth resistance. 

Many students were killed. 

Many young people were injured, detained or forced into exile.

The image of Mbuyisa Makhubu carrying Hector Pieterson, with his sister, Antoinette Sithole, running alongside, conveyed to the world the brutality of apartheid. 

Their contribution belongs in the centre of our national memory.

The young people of 1976 did not stand alone. 

They were supported by parents, teachers, health workers, religious leaders and community structures. 

They were supported by leaders such as Mama Albertina Sisulu and Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the Black Parents Association and the Soweto Committee of Ten. 

We remember in particular the mothers who searched for their children, the mothers who mourned and the women who expressed the pain of the nation when apartheid expected them to be silent.

The uprising began in Soweto, but it did not remain there. 

It spread to Alexandra, Tembisa and KwaThema, and later to Langa, Gugulethu, Nyanga and townships across the country, giving new momentum to the struggle against apartheid.

The cries of these young people reverberated across the world, galvanising the international movement to condemn and isolate apartheid South Africa.

This year, Youth Day takes place at the intersection of important milestones of freedom. 

In addition to the 50th anniversary of the Soweto uprising, we also mark 70 years since the Women's March of 1956 and 30 years since the adoption of our democratic Constitution in 1996. 

Together, these milestones remind us that freedom was built across generations: by the women who resisted pass laws, by the young people who rose against Bantu Education, and by a Constitution that reflects the views and aspirations of all the people of South Africa.

As we mark the 50th anniversary of the Soweto uprising, we are called on to ensure that freedom lives in every generation, and to reflect honestly on the work that must still be done so that freedom is felt in the lives of young people today. 

The South Africa of today is not the South Africa of 1976. 

We are no longer governed by laws that decide what a black child may learn, where they may live, what work they may do and what future they may imagine. 

That change did not come by chance. It was won through struggle, protected through our Constitution and advanced through the policies and programmes of our democratic governments.

The youth of 1976 were not the last generation to organise for change. 

We remember young freedom fighters such as Solomon Mahlangu, the Cradock Four and Nokuthula Simelane, and the youth and student formations that helped make apartheid ungovernable. 

In the democratic era, that same spirit continued through the Rhodes Must Fall and Fees Must Fall movements.

Because of these generations of struggle, South Africa has changed fundamentally. 

The Constitution of 1996 guarantees the right to basic education. 

Through legislation such as the South African Schools Act and the Higher Education Act, we dismantled the legal architecture of apartheid education and began building a system founded on equality, access and redress.

Since 1994, access to schooling has been significantly expanded. 

No-fee schools now support children from poor households. 

The School Nutrition Programme feeds more than nine million learners every school day. 

Last year, South Africa recorded the highest matric pass rate in our history, with more than two-thirds of bachelor passes coming from schools in disadvantaged communities. 

We have opened the doors of post-school education and training. 

This year, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme approved funding for more than a million students at universities and colleges. 

Today, our country produces four times the number of African graduates than it did in 1994. These are doctors, teachers, engineers, nurses, scientists, entrepreneurs and leaders in many fields. 

Young people are taking their place in public leadership. Today, more than 80 Members of the National Assembly are aged 40 or younger.

These gains show that democracy has opened doors that apartheid deliberately kept closed. 

But opening doors is not enough. The task now is to ensure that those doors lead to skills, work, enterprise, ownership and dignity.

We must be honest about the challenge before us. 

More than 4.7 million young people are unemployed. 

The youth unemployment rate stands at 46 percent. 

Behind every statistic is a young person who wants to work, wants to contribute and wants to build a future.

It is the graduate who sends out dozens of applications and receives no response.

It is the young entrepreneur with an idea but no access to capital.

It is the skilled artisan who cannot find an opportunity to demonstrate their talents.

We cannot accept this as normal.

Young people are among the most affected by violent crime and theft.

These are some of the greatest threats to our country's prosperity and social stability.

Faced with these challenges, there are some who blame the problems of unemployment, crime and poor service delivery on foreign nationals.

Even as we recognise the challenge of illegal immigration – which we are taking decisive action to address – our problems are our own. And which we have a responsibility to fix ourselves.

We recognise that many communities are frustrated by crime, unemployment and pressure on public services.

These frustrations are real and must never be dismissed.

But we must also be honest about their causes.

The roots of these challenges lie primarily in inequality, slow economic growth and weaknesses in service delivery.

Addressing these challenges requires practical solutions, not the scapegoating of vulnerable people.

The challenges facing young people are grave and their concerns are real.

That is why our response to these challenges must be comprehensive and urgent.
 
In this regard, government is acting on three fronts.

First, we are expanding public employment, youth service and workplace experience. 

More than 5.7 million young people are now registered on the SA Youth.mobi platform. Of these, more than 2 million young people have gained access to earning opportunities. 

The Presidential Employment Stimulus has created work and livelihood opportunities for more than 2.5 million unemployed South Africans. 

Of these, 82 percent were young people and 66 percent were women.

Through the pilot phase of the Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund, over 9,000 young people have been enrolled and more than 7,200 successfully placed into employment.

This shows the potential of training that is linked to employment opportunities.

The revitalised National Youth Service has placed more than 130,000 young people in paid service opportunities to date, with an additional 100,000 community service youth employment opportunities currently available.

These interventions give young people a foothold in the world of work, but they are not the final destination. 

That is why our overarching priority at the moment is to grow an inclusive economy that creates sustainable jobs at scale.

Second, we are reshaping the skills system so that qualifications lead more directly to work and enterprise. 

We are moving away from training for training's sake.

That is why we are strengthening TVET colleges as engines of occupational skills and linking colleges, employers and SETAs to the needs of local economies. 

Skills are not formed in classrooms alone. They are formed in workplaces, industries, communities and enterprises.

Third, we are opening the productive economy to young people. 

Over the next three years, the state is investing R1 trillion in infrastructure. 

We are building and maintaining roads, dams, schools, hospitals, clinics, electricity lines, railway lines and port infrastructure. 

This investment will create apprenticeships, artisan development, skills transfer and enterprise development for young people. 

Our growth strategy is focused on sectors that create jobs at scale: manufacturing, mining beneficiation, digital infrastructure, agriculture, green industrialisation, energy, logistics, critical minerals, tourism and the creative economy. 

Young people must be an integral part of these industries. 

They must be trained for these industries, work in them, build businesses in them and own a part of them.

The small business portfolio will provide support to one million micro, small and medium-sized enterprises over this term of government. 

The Public Procurement Act gives us the opportunity to use the buying power of the state to support enterprises owned by young people, women and persons with disabilities. 

Unemployment must be seen as a societal problem. All stakeholders in our country must work together to provide sustainable solutions to reduce unemployment among young people.

Government has a responsibility and is continuously taking action to address this problem. The private sector has a responsibility too to address the challenge of unemployment.

I want to speak directly to the employers of South Africa – to every business owner, every manager, every person who holds in their hands the power to hire. 

The young person in front of you does not lack ability. They lack only the chance to prove it. 

I am asking you to open the door. Hire for potential, not only for experience. 

Take the chance on the young person who has never been given one.

And I say to you: government will not ask you to carry that risk alone. 

Through the Employment Tax Incentive, we already share the cost of bringing a young person into their first job. We will strengthen that support, because the first job is the hardest to get and the most important a person ever has.

We must change how we prepare young people from the beginning. We therefore call upon employers to hire a young person and not require them to have experience before you hire them.

As the country prepares for the next local government elections, we must place young people at the centre of building municipalities that work.

Young people must not only be councillors. They must be the engineers, planners, artisans, water technicians, electricians, data specialists and entrepreneurs who build sustainable cities, towns and villages.

Our progress as a nation must be measured by whether young people are moving from school to skills, from skills to work, and from enterprise support to markets, scale and ownership. 

This is how we honour the youth of 1976: by building a South Africa in which every young person has a fair chance to learn, work, serve, build, create, own and live with dignity.

Across South Africa there are over 37 million young people under the age of 35. 

This is our country’s greatest strength.

The youthfulness of our population provides our country with a dynamism, innovativeness and potential productivity that few other countries outside our continent can match.

This generation must take its place in every part of our national life: in the economy, in public institutions, in communities, in innovation, in culture and in the work of building our democracy.

The young people of 1976 remind us that freedom is not protected by memory alone. 

It is protected by active citizenship, by organisation, by discipline, by service and by responsibility. 

Today's generation has tools that the youth of 1976 did not have. 

They have technology, information and platforms that can connect communities, expose injustice and build enterprises. 

Technology must be matched by purpose, organisation and commitment to the common good.

As we look to the future, young people must be at the centre of democratic participation. 

They must register to vote, vote in elections, engage municipalities and hold public representatives accountable. 

Democracy is not only what happens in Parliament and council chambers. 

It is also built in schools, campuses, workplaces, churches, sports fields, community halls, streets and homes.

President Nelson Mandela said at the birth of our democracy that “the time to build is upon us”. 

This is the responsibility of our lifetime: to ensure that young people have the opportunity, support and confidence to build their lives and shape the future of our country.

Let us honour the youth of 1976 not only by remembering their courage, but by continuing the work for which they sacrificed so much. 

Let us build a South Africa in which freedom lives in every generation.

Fifty years ago, the youth of 1976 marched for the right to learn. They faced down bullets armed with nothing but the conviction that their minds mattered.

Today's generation inherits that courage, but the battle has changed. 

The youth of 1976 fought exclusion. Ours must fight unemployment, poverty and inequality.

Theirs was the struggle to enter the classroom. Ours is the struggle to ensure that what begins in the classroom does not end in the unemployment queue.

Just as they refused the limits imposed upon them, we too must refuse a future of diminished possibilities.

Let us build a South Africa where every young person can realise their potential.

Let us build a South Africa in which freedom lives in every generation.

So let us honour them not in words alone, but in deeds. 

Let us build a South Africa where every young person can realise their potential.

Where opportunity is not the privilege of a few, but the birthright of all. 

A South Africa in which freedom lives anew in every generation.

I thank you.
 

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his profound sadness at the passing of cultural activist, global jazz icon and Esteemed Member of the Order of Ikhamanga, Abdullah Ibrahim.

Abdullah Ibrahim has passed away at the age of 91, at the end of a life in music that spanned jazz genres and geographies.

President Ramaphosa offers his deep condolences to Mr Ibrahim’s children, pianist Tsakwe and hip-hop artist Jean Grae. Their mother, Sathima Bea Benjamin, a performer and recording artist herself, passed away in 2013, nine years after she received the Order of Ikhamanga.

As a pianist, composer, arranger and mentor, Abdullah Ibrahim campaigned against apartheid and drew audiences to his highly curated performances that showcased his accomplishment as a soloist and his collaboration with established and emerging talent.

His music also projected his spirituality and contemplative practice of martial arts.

In 2009, he was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver, in recognition of his excellent contribution to the arts, his success in putting South African music on the international map, and his lifelong fight against racism and apartheid.

President Ramaphosa said: “Today our nation mourns the passing of an international icon and global citizen whose profound creations honoured the South Africa that shaped his political commitment and musical brilliance.

“As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Youth Uprising, the passing of Abdullah Ibrahim reminds us of the then illegal benefit concert he organised in support of the liberation movement following the Uprising, as a demonstration of his commitment to our struggle.

“We give thanks for the many decades of his life that he devoted to his personal passion which he shared with humanity through his recordings and his appearances in clubs and concert halls throughout the globe.

“He has enriched our lives with his musical gifts and his involvement in making the world a better place.

“May his soul rest in peace.”

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President – media@presidency.gov.za

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria