President Cyril Ramaphosa stressed on Monday that government continues its work to fulfil the basic rights of every South African to ensure quality lives free of disease, hunger and deprivation as the country marks 45 years since anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko died in police custody. 

In his weekly letter to the nation Ramaphosa wrote that policies implemented by successive democratic administrations had tried to salvage the lost dignity of South Africa’s majority by providing education, health care, housing and basic services. 

September 12 marks 45 years since Biko’s death in police custody, in Pretoria Central Prison. 

“Human dignity, the principle at the heart of his black consciousness activism, was denied him. In the words of the family lawyer Sir Sydney Kentridge, his was ‘a miserable and lonely death on a mat on a stone floor in a prison cell’,” said Ramaphosa.

He said it was sad that Biko was just 30 years old when he died - “cut down in his prime” by those who feared his ideas of self-liberation and his efforts to infuse pride and dignity into black men and women.

Ramaphosa pointed out that 28 years into the country’s democracy, South Africa was confronted with poverty, unemployment and inequality, which was often disheartening to citizens who then lose sight of how far they have come in giving effect to the principles on which the country’s Constitution is founded and that anchored Biko’s thought and teachings. 

“In South Africa today, a decent education is a fundamental right. The State invests in early childhood development, in supporting learning outcomes for our youngest citizens, and provides social relief through school feeding programmes to ensure young learners achieve the best outcomes possible,”Ramaphosa said.

Through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and various other forms of State support, thousands of young South Africans from poor backgrounds have been able to become doctors, lawyers, teachers, scientists, artisans and entrepreneurs. 

The government supported poor and vulnerable citizens through an extensive social safety net and provided work opportunities through mass public employment programmes, Ramaphosa said.

“In South Africa today, young people of the same age as Steve Biko was and even younger are at the forefront of activism for causes closest to them, and they are able to organise free of harassment or banishment. Freedom of speech and association, the right to protest and the right to equality before the law is upheld for all,” he noted.

Ramaphosa said the country had come a long way towards the fulfilment of human dignity, but he acknowledged that citizens still have much further to go.

He said without a job, a house, electricity or running water, land, skills or opportunities, millions of South Africans were still deprived of the lives they sought and deserved.

He said that this was the reason why government was working with social partners to build an inclusive economy, create employment, enable businesses to thrive and tackle poverty and hunger.