President Ramaphosa calls on nation to forge common future in wake of KZN & Gauteng riots

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on everyone in the country to put their differences aside and try to heal from the collective national trauma of this month’s failed insurrection.

He used his weekly newsletter, released on Monday morning, to caution against vigilantism and racism in the wake of the anarchy that claimed more than 300 lives in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

He acknowledged that there was still much to unearth about the events that took place over the course of the last two weeks.

But he said that official reports and personal accounts suggested that people were racially profiled at illegal roadblocks, some people were pulled out of cars and beaten, and some were humiliated and degraded.

Ramaphosa said that the violence and destruction caused much damage to property and livelihoods and it also had a huge impact on the cohesion of our communities.

This was most evident in the tragic events that took place in and around Phoenix in eThekwini.

During some of the worst unrest in our democracy, and in a climate already thick with suspicion and paranoia, people that had lived side-by-side in relative peace turned on each other.

He reminded the country that our democracy was built by peacemakers and bridge-builders.

The architects of our freedom were African, Indian, Coloured, and white men and women of great courage who chose the path of reconciliation over retribution, and of peace over war.

He called on the nation to work together to forge a common future in which everyone had an equal share.

-EWN

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