GOOD Speech by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
2 May 2023
Note: This is the speech that was delivered by GOOD Secretary-General and Member of Parliament, Brett Herron, during today’s debate on Freedom Day: Consolidating and safeguarding democratic gains.
Madam Speaker,
South Africans have many good reasons to feel disappointed by developments over the past 29 years, but they don’t detract from the fact that our liberation from apartheid was a very big deal well worthy of celebration.
When all South Africans were given the opportunity to vote for the first time, in April 1994, it marked the end of the anti-apartheid struggle and the beginning of a new struggle for human rights and justice. It was a tipping point; not the finishing line…
The freedoms we gained, for which courageous compatriots laid life and limb on the line, are not passive.
They were expressed in the Constitution and placed active obligations on the state to:
- Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;
- Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person
- Build a united and democratic South Africa.
The extent to which we have fallen short of achieving these noble objectives is all around us.
People rightfully ask what kind of freedom it is when we are immersed in crime and violence.
What kind of freedom delivers an education system in which our children can’t read for meaning, and schools at which children die in pit toilets?
What kind of freedom does not translate into dignified health care for all?
What kind of freedom denies people access to sufficient food and water?
What kind of freedom doesn’t provide the level of social security necessary to cover the basic needs and dignity of all citizens… passing budgets giving the aged a paltry R2000 per month pension, with nothing for the young and unemployed?
What kind of freedom creates housing, social services and planning systems that render more and more people homeless – stuck for decades in backyards, informal settlements, or on the streets? Where should people living on the streets go when they are evicted from the streets without being provided transitional housing and social support?
When we finish here tonight, switch off the lights and go home to a warm meal and a hot shower, families across the nation will be gathering in the dark around empty tables? Not due to loadshedding, mind you; due to the exclusion of poverty.
As freely elected representatives of South Africans here gathered, we must not sit comfortably. We have not earned the right to be comfortable with so much yet to be done.
That is the challenge that confronts us; to reach beyond party political considerations and live up to the expectations of our people for a fairer and more inclusive society.
It is a challenge that, if we’re honest, reflects our failures – regardless of the colour of our t-shirts – to represent our people well.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 0733671223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za