‘Let us remember Madiba by working for peace’, says Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the nation ought to remember its former president and struggle stalwart Nelson Mandela by striving for peace.

Addressing the country through his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa highlighted the late Mandela’s towering legacy on his commemoration day that is not only celebrated around the world, but had its international observance declared by the United Nations in 2009. 

“This is in testament to his role as a revered statesman, unifier and, above all, as a peacemaker. Striving for peace in the world, for an end to conflicts everywhere, and for a true international fellowship of humankind are the ideals Nelson Mandela stood for,” he said.

The president said Mandela’s ideals were relevant when he was a statesman on the world stage and are even more relevant with many parts of our continent and the world embroiled in conflict.

“As South Africa we hold fast to the ideal that a better world can be achieved through engendering peace. This derives from negotiation and compromise over violence, the use of force and resorting to war,” he said.

Ramaphosa said the country’s contribution to world peace is through supporting societies in conflict, and this is largely as a result of the Mandela legacy. 

“Our experience with negotiating an end to apartheid and with building a multiparty democracy is regularly sought out by parties seeking to bring conflict to an end,.”

The president recalled that the country played a role in quelling conflicts in Northern Ireland, Palestine, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Eswatini, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Ethiopia and most recently in Sudan. 

He revealed that when he met with the deputy president of the Transitional Sovereign Council of Sudan, they discussed the support South Africa can lend to the convening of an inclusive dialogue process towards a permanent peace. 

“Earlier this month I was in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where South Africa is playing a key role in facilitating dialogue and conflict resolution and providing technical assistance under the 2013 Peace and Security Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the Great Lakes.”

Ramaphosa said June marked six months since the signing of the Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities between the government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in Pretoria on November 2 2022. 

“This peace agreement South Africa played a role in brokering under the auspices of the African Union continues to hold,” he said.

The president said this was evidence of Mandela’s saying that “the heroes are those who make peace and build”.

“We will continue to follow in his footsteps by calling for political solutions to conflicts. We are fortified by the towering moral courage of great leaders like [former] president Mandela,” he said.

Ramaphosa called on South Africans to promote peace everywhere on this Mandela Day, citing that the peacemaking and peace-building processes we are called upon to become involved in are the fruit of Mandela’s legacy.

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