President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged South Africans to confront their shared history honestly and recommit to reconciliation as the country marked the Day of Reconciliation at the Ncome Museum in eNquthu, KwaZulu-Natal. Speaking at the historic site on Tuesday, Ramaphosa reflected on the events of December 16 1838, when more than 3 000 Zulu warriors were killed during the Battle of Ncome, also known as the Battle of Blood River. “It was here, more than 180 years ago, that more than 3 000 brave warriors fell in battle in defence of their ancestral land,” he said.
He said that while the Voortrekkers regarded their victory as divine intervention and commemorated it as the Day of the Vow, the reality was one of overwhelming force used against Zulu fighters armed largely with spears and shields. “They were the bravest of the brave. They fought to defend their land, their rights and their sovereignty,” Ramaphosa said.
He said the day offered South Africans an opportunity to confront the past with honesty, acknowledge the pain and complexity of history, and commit to building a peaceful future together. “Our democracy was built on reconciliation,” he said, adding that South Africans continued to bear the scars of dispossession, oppression and generations of violence inflicted on black communities. Ramaphosa cited a series of historical events that symbolised state brutality, including the Bambatha Rebellion, Sharpeville, Langa, Cato Manor and Boipatong.
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“This province, KwaZulu-Natal, knows this pain all too well,” he said, referring to the political violence of the 1980s and 1990s that tore communities apart and claimed thousands of lives. Despite this history, Ramaphosa said South Africans chose reconciliation over vengeance at the dawn of democracy.
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