CAPE TOWN, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Africa marked National Heritage Day on Thursday, with President Cyril Ramaphosa calling on citizens to strengthen national unity and uphold the values of ubuntu and human dignity.
Ramaphosa delivered the address at Bongolethu Sports Stadium in Oudtshoorn, Western Cape Province, where he highlighted the country's diverse cultural traditions, languages and history while urging South Africans to build a more equal society.
Preserving heritage meant ensuring that indigenous knowledge and traditions were passed on to future generations, he said.
"We must record it. We must teach it. We must practice it. And above all, we must pass it on," Ramaphosa noted, referring to the country's "Living Human Treasures," traditional practitioners, storytellers, musicians, healers, craftspeople and knowledge holders.
The president said South Africa's heritage also included its history of resistance to apartheid and the decision after decades of conflict to build one country together.
He said the Constitution was "the tie that binds us together" and that diversity should be a reason for South Africans to learn from one another rather than separate.
But Ramaphosa said the freedom inherited since 1994 was still experienced unequally, pointing to differences in poverty, safety, access to basic services, education and economic opportunity.
"If we want to strengthen the ties that bind us, we must close these distances between the lives of our people," he said.
Ramaphosa also condemned gender-based violence, saying the abuse, rape and killing of women was not part of South African heritage. His remarks came after the recent discovery of the bodies of nine women murdered in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng Province.
The president said he would address the nation in the coming days on government measures to tackle gender-based violence and the investigation into the killings.
Ramaphosa further called on South Africans to confront unemployment, gender-based violence, corruption, and alcohol and drug abuse collectively. ■