'Die Stem' not a symbol of Afrikaner identity - Ramaphosa
The president has told lawmakers
that South Africa will never be united as long as barriers continue to exist
between people.
The singing of 'Die Stem' or display of the old South African flag are not symbols of Afrikaner identity, President Cyril Ramaphosa told Parliament on Thursday.
"They are symbols of discrimination, oppression, mysery, and still wanting to go back to the past," he told MPs while giving a reply to the debate on the Presidency's budget vote.
Ramaphosa used the example while speaking of barriers that continue to exist between South Africans.
He says the country will never be united or flourish for as long as these barriers continue to exist and live on in the minds of South Africans.
The president says the barriers, including the attachment with 'Die Stem' and the old flag, exist in the minds of those who measure others by their race, gender, income, ethnicity, and language.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation approached the courts earlier this year in an attempt to ban the old flag after it was used during demonstrations against farm attacks.
Similarly, many have called for the removal of a verse of 'Die Stem' from the democratic anthem, Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika.
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