President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africans should challenge what he described as the completely false narrative that the country is a place in which people of a certain race or culture are being targeted for persecution. Ramaphosa made the plea in his weekly newsletter published this morning.

SOUTH AFRICANS BELIEVE IN DEMOCRACY

The President said since the dawn of democracy, citizens have strived to build a society that recognises the injustices of the past while advancing reconciliation and national unity. "At the dawn of our democracy, we chose the path of reconciliation and nation-building. The people of this country supported the adoption of a Constitution and a Bill of Rights that guarantee the human dignity of all regardless of their race, gender, culture, religion, ethnic or social origin, age, disability, language, or birth," Ramaphosa wrote. He added that as South Africans, the country should be proud of the fact that the majority of South Africans continue to believe in democracy, human rights, and the rule of law as universal values. "In South Africa today, all citizens, African, white, Indian, and coloured, male and female, enjoy equal rights and freedoms that the state is obliged to uphold, protect, and advance. In South Africa today, there are constitutional protections guaranteed to all racial, cultural and linguistic groups, including their right to enjoy their culture and to use their language."

A FALSE NARRATIVE

Without mentioning the US, where President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have been saying white people in the country are being treated unfairly, Ramaphosa said that citizens should therefore reject the politics of divisiveness that is emerging in many parts of the world. "In particular, we should challenge the completely false narrative that our country is a place in which people of a certain race or culture are being targeted for persecution," Ramaphosa said, adding that citizens should not allow events beyond our shores to divide us or turn us against each other. Since the end of apartheid, our country has been recognised globally for upholding human rights. The free flow of ideas and opinions is vital to democracy and to having a vibrant society. Even those with the most offensive views should know that in democratic South Africa, and unlike many other parts of the world, our Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression, as long as it does not include incitement to violence or advocacy of racial and other hatred.'