Our heritage is to speak up when leaders wrong us

Heritage Day celebrations have come and gone but the reality of what South Africa is remains.

Our people yesterday celebrated their diverse cultures, resplendent in their traditional attire, which symbolises who we are as a nation.

But the picture we see today as we return to our daily routines tells us that we have a long road still to travel to complete the national project of making everyone fully "South African".

We agree with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa that "too many of our people can't live where they want, cannot pursue the professions they desire and cannot achieve the standard of living they seek".

He told hundreds at Heritage Day celebrations in North West that this nation is "still prone to stereotyping each other and that we are reluctant to trust those who do not look like us or who don't speak like us or who do not belong to the same economic stratum".

But who is to blame for this?

It is up to the people of this nation to push those in authority to take us to an era in which becoming a free South African is not dependent on how deep your pockets are or how close you are to the rulers.

If we keep quiet when those entrusted with managing our nation's affairs sleep on the job, or work hard only to enrich themselves, we betray the sacrifices that have been made on our behalf and throw away the promise of the future.

It should be part of our heritage not to keep quiet, it should be part of this nation's DNA that we shout when wrongs are done in our name.

Ramaphosa , his administration and his party should shoulder some of the blame. We are not moving forward as we should because of some in the government and the private sector who think only of themselves and those close to them. Our country is the last thing on their minds.

Let's create a culture in which South Africa comes first.