26 April 2016 SADTU Marks Freedom Day SADTU joins the rest of South Africans in celebrating Freedom Day under the theme: "Together Building Communities - Local Government is Everybody's Business." April 27, 1994 will always remain a historic day for South Africa as millions of citizens, irrespective of race, creed or colour, cast their votes and brought to an end decades of oppression. This marked the beginning of a process of transforming South Africa from a divided society to a constitutional democracy founded upon freedom, dignity and equality. As we reflect on the 22 years of democracy, we realise that building a new society is still a work in progress. This year's celebration comes at a time when the country is preparing for another milestone in our history - the local government elections that are due to take place in August. It is this sphere of government which, according to our constitution, mostly delivers socio-economic rights. Local government should work with citizens within the community to find sustainable ways to meet social, economic and material needs and improve their lives. Even though non-racial municipalities have been established, the divisions of the past are still prevalent as we see imbalances in terms of physical infrastructure and in provision of services. As a union in the education sector, we are fully aware of the power of education in changing people's lives for the better. We are therefore heartened by the ANC's local government election manifesto which not only recognizes education as an apex priority with a crucial role in transforming the lives of people but affirms it as a societal matter and a public good. In its manifesto, the ANC has committed to among others, collaboration between government departments, communities and stakeholders to accelerate the development and support of early childhood development facilities; working together with parents, teachers, students and relevant stakeholders to take the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign to communities; implementing programmes that promote community ownership of schools, colleges, universities and other public education facilities. Let this day give us another opportunity to strengthen solidarity, tolerance, national identity and social cohesion. The road to Freedom Day was not a walk in the park as many lost their lives along the way. We are celebrating our freedom and not violence as advocated by EFF leader Julius Malema who never fought in a war before. As we celebrate our freedom we are convinced that our duty is to defend this freedom from self-made commanders such as Malema Let us celebrate and honour the heroes and the heroines whose blood watered our soil in order for us gain this freedom. Issued by SADTU Secretariat Contact: Mugwena Maluleke, General Secretary, 082 783 2968 Nkosana Dolopi, Deputy General Secretary, 082 709 5651 Nomusa Cembi, Media Officer, 082 719 5157 -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
