The government will not rest until all households in the country had basic services‚ President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a Freedom Day ceremony in Giyani in Limpopo to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of democracy in South Africa‚ Zuma said that while services had been extended to some communities‚ many others were still waiting because of the extensive backlog resulting from apartheid exclusion.
“We assure you that we shall not rest as the democratic government‚ until all households in our country live in dignity and obtain basic services.
“We will continue to work with all communities towards this end‚ together building better communities and improving the functioning of municipalities so that they can better provide these services‚” Zuma added.
Notwithstanding the backlog in services‚ much had been achieved socially‚ economically and politically in the past 23 years and it was a fact that the country was a much better place to live in now than it was before 1994‚ he stated.
“Our country is still receiving accolades for the successful transition to democracy and for the solid and well-functioning institutions of governance. “We receive compliments abroad for the excellent economic and financial institutions which continue to be an attraction for foreign investors.”
And while South Africa faced several challenges as a new democracy and a developing country‚ its positive attributes far outweighed the challenges‚ the president added. Urging South Africans to unite in promoting the country‚ he said it should be possible to identify issues “on which we shall unite no matter what‚ and not allow party political competition to divide the nation”.
