Media Statement

The African National Congress (ANC) joins the country in celebrating the 32 years of freedom and democracy.

This herculean feat painfully reminds us of the arduous path travelled many years since the formation of the ANC and the major events that changed and the course of the liberation history shaping the strategies and tactics struggle to defeat apartheid, ushering a free, democratic dispensation. This day was not a miracle, but a history written in sacrifice, death, blood, pain yet also human perseverance and hope. In a sense of proud nostalgia, the snaking queues to the ballot box were destined to usher a new destiny where we lost our chains and reclaimed our humanity and dignity based on a universal suffrage of one-man-one vote.

The 27th April 1994 was not a gesture of magnanimity but a product of sacrifices and human resilience, the well orchestrated destructive violence that gripped the country, the systematic and brutal apartheid killings, the death penalty, detentions without trial, the banning of the liberation movement, women and youth struggles, the Sharpeville, June 16, Langa, Boipatong and other massacres under the apartheid security forces. We are painfully reminded of the callous killing of Comrade Chris Hani as an attempt to derail the negotiations and to plunge the country into anarchy. This journey was a people’s struggle against oppression, inequality and secondary citizenship.

As the country’s flag flies high with pride, South Africa claimed its sovereignty and rightful place among the community of nations, forging new relations, contributing to global integration, international cooperation, progressive internationalism and inclusive multilateralism. To reverse the legacy of apartheid, in 1996 the ANC government adopted a democratic Constitution rooted in the culture of human rights as advocated by the Freedom Charter and the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) to advance socioeconomic transformation by elevating the people as the apex of development through a paradigm that is people-centred and people-driven.

South Africa has a resilient Constitution that enjoins the state to provide basic services and a populace with a patriotic duty to partake in nation building, and to defend the democratic state. The vitality of this Constitution is demonstrated by free, fair and regular elections where each citizen vote for the party of their choice. For many years the majority of the people of South Africa reaffirmed their trust and confidence in a social contract with the ANC as an organisation capable of leading society towards a goal of a better life and continues with this historic mission for a period of 32 years and beyond.

Over this period, the ANC-led government adopted a democratic Constitution which abolished the death penalty built millions of houses, schools, universities, hospitals, community health centres, roads and provided electricityand clean and safe drinking water. It further ensured access to education through to Early Childhood Development programme, no-fee schools in basic education and NSFAS in higher education, including access to free public quality healthcare and a basket of social security protections. Notwithstanding these massive achievements, the legacy of apartheid remains painfully obstinate, with poverty, unemployment and inequality high.

The ANC will continue with progressive legislation to change the face of society, push back the frontiers of economic exclusion, indignity and restore land to its rightful owners.

South Africa is a growing country. This was proven by the resilience of our health system during the outbreak of the coronavirus that pulverised the global economy and killed millions. Through our dedicated health workers and government, we protected the country against the deadly pandemic. We will continue to build a world-class health system through health infrastructure investment, training and new technology by introducing a single inclusive system by implementing the National Health Insurance (NHI). The resolution of the electricity crisis is one among the many achievements of the ANC-led government.

The Independent Electoral Commission, Human Rights Commission, Commission for Gender Equality, Public Protector and other Chapter 9 institutions supporting democracy and Bill of Rights are the cornerstone of our Constitution, with the Constitutional Court as the custodian.

Our commitment to nation building, the project of non-racialism, land ownership, equity distribution, wealth sharing, inclusive economic participation and non-sexism continues amidst a neoliberal and right-wing anti-transformation agenda to perpetuate minority rule and privileges. This agenda by anti-transformation proponents is in full swing, polarising the nation along racial lines, destroying our value system, heritage, Constitution, country’s flag, social fabric and sabotaging a dream of a country based on equality, freedom and justice.

The 27th April 2026 is a continuation of a chapter that infuses more determination and vigour in our commitment to build a peaceful country. As we celebrate this significant day, we do so in a sense of patriotic pride, reaffirming our allegiance to the Constitution and the vision of the Freedom Charter. As we have declared in our 2026 January 8 Statement, we will fix local government and transform the economy. We reaffirm that we will defend our sovereignty and democracy.

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