Freedom Day: Ramaphosa warns people trying to divide SA along racial lines

JOHANNESBURG - As South Africa commemorates Freedom Day, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned against people trying to divide the country along racial lines.

The president said that people from all races, ethnicities and cultures contributed to the country’s freedom.

The 27th of April marks the day South Africa held its first ever democratic elections in 1994 after the fall of the apartheid government.

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Earlier on Sunday, the government held Freedom Day celebrations in Mpumalanga however, Ramaphosa could not attend after catching the flu.

Ramaphosa's address was delivered on his behalf by Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe.

"We must be clear, we will not allow anyone to define us, nobody must define us and tell us who and what we are or turn us against each other. No one will do that. We are a people, and we must make choices that unite us. We must roundly reject all attempts to divide us on racial lines."