President Ramaphosa Acknowledges Problems Facing South Africa On Freedom Day

South Africa celebrated Freedom Day on Thursday and President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the country's major problems during the celebrations.

President Ramaphosa said, "Freedom cannot be meaningful while communities live in fear of gangsters and women live in fear of men," during his speech in Klerksdorp city located in the North West Province, SANews reported.

While the president noted that the country has improved its police force and strengthened the criminal justice system, still there are many more things to be improved.

He suggested that there should be durable partnerships based on respect and cooperation between the police and communities. The president explained that everyone in the country needs to be united as a society in order to "end the violence that is perpetrated by men against women and children."

"This is a fight that we must all take up - both men and women - if we want to achieve equal rights, freedoms, and opportunities for all," he added. "As we undertake these great and difficult tasks, we are encouraged and inspired by those who brought freedom to our country and built our democracy."

President Ramaphosa suggested all South Africans of all races stay committed to building the nation together as the country cannot become better in terms of equality, freedom, and social justice if "they are a family that turns on itself."

He further asked everyone to focus on what makes South Africans united, adding them to remember "how far we have come."

"Let us take counsel from the elders among us, understanding that it is a desire to be of assistance that motivates them," the president added. "As elders, let us listen to the hopes and dreams of the young and take their concerns seriously."

The official Twitter handle of the South African Government shared a video from the event, where the president can be seen dancing on the stage alongside others.

During the event, Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture Zizi Kodwa said that South Africans now have a government that celebrates a "new country," which they didn't have 29 years ago.

"The majority of South Africans did not participate because they did not have a government," Kodwa said, News24 reported. "In you, Mr President, as a representative of a democratically elected government you carry the hopes of millions of South Africans who never had [a] government before."

He added, "[This] is why Mr. President, 29 years ago South Africans never protested for service delivery because they never had a government to protest [against], it is only now that South Africans can protest for service delivery because they have a government, democratically elected by them, Mr. President."

April 27 marked the first democratic elections in South Africa that took place in 1994. The African National Congress (ANC), which was led by the former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela at that time, won the first election with more than 60% of the votes.