“The year of unity, socio-economic renewal and nation building”
THIS year’s Human Rights Day commemoration will take place in the Northern Cape at the Colesberg Sports Complex in the Umsobomvu Local Municipality.
The keynote address of the event, which starts at 9am, will be delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Human Rights Day is celebrated each year on March 21 and this year commemorates 60 years since the Sharpeville Massacre.
The theme for 2020 is: “The year of unity, socio-economic renewal and nation building”, and is aimed at recognising that the conditions for uniting South Africans lie in broadening and deepening access to socio-economic services such as health, land, education, water, electricity, housing, security, and employment.
According to a statement issued by the national Department of Arts and Culture, Human Rights Day is a day of reflection by all people on the progress made in entrenching human rights and recommitting to doing everything possible to deepen these rights for all.
“As a representative body of the people, government remains unwavering in its constitutional task of making laws and exercising oversight that ensures practical and concrete realisation of individual and collective humanity rights. Government is enjoined by the Constitution to advance and to protect, without fear or favour, people’s democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom in the execution of its mandate,” the statement added.
“In commemorating Human Rights Day 2020, we appreciate the strides made in building a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa, but believe more must be done by all South Africans, united in our diversity, within and outside of government, to deepen our constitutionalism and consolidate our democracy.”
Various Human Rights Month build-up activities will take place across the country, including several events in the Northern Cape.
The Department of Arts and Culture in partnership with the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) will host an Imvuselelo at the Kuyasa Community Hall in Colesberg on Sunday, March 15, at 9am, while the Colesberg Four Memorial Lecture will take place on March 19, also in Colesberg.
On March 19, the Department of Arts and Culture will also host a lecture on the legacy of Baba Credo Mutwa at the Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley at 3pm.
All citizens of the country are urged to participate in the planned commemorations in the efforts to promote the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law, strengthen human solidarity and tolerance, and to build a cohesive nation.
