It's time for independence, not dependence on other countries - Mashatile

ANC and country deputy president Paul Mashatile says it is time for the country to become independent and not rely on other countries that have been funding various things.

Mashatile said people will still receive their medicines, despite the United States, led by Donald Trump, cutting off funding for health programs that were helping to combat the spread of the HIV virus.

"America has cut off funding but people will still receive their medicines. It is time for us to become independent, to do things for ourselves, and not rely on other countries. We must organize ourselves for these things that other countries funded us," Mashatile said.

He said this yesterday in Cape Town during a memorial service for struggle activist Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, who was hanged by the apartheid government in 1979. 

Mashatile said they are continuing with laws such as land expropriation, schools and health insurance.

"There are those who do not want us to continue with these things, but we are moving forward. In this, we remember the role of Mahlangu in the struggle, who died so that the country could be free. Those who do not want these laws should go and die," he said.

Meanwhile, SACP Deputy Chairperson Thulas Nxesi lamented that those who fought for freedom in this country and were members of Umkhonto we Sizwe are dying in poverty.

He said these activists are dying without homes, without money and unable to provide for their families, while many of them died for freedom. 

Nxesi said something must be done about the neglect of these activists.

"It worries us that MK members, they die with nothing. We have forgotten what they did fighting for the country's freedom, now they are ignored," said Nxesi speaking at the cemetery where Mahlangu was buried in Pretoria.

He lamented what Mahlangu would have said now given the state of the country. 

He criticized the DA as a snake that will rebel against the ANC and crush it in the next election.

"It is not only AfriForum and other Afrikaner organizations that are dangerous, but the DA is also dangerous. The DA must be watched closely because it is dangerous," he said. 

He lamented that it is unacceptable that after 30 years, the issue of international law is still being discussed.

"The issue of international law should no longer be discussed, after 30 years the country became free. The world should be a day for people, not a matter of its issue being discussed."

He said we must ask ourselves where the 11 million people are who did not vote for the ANC.

"The whites voted for each other, they came out in large numbers again. We must ask ourselves where these many people are who did not vote for us," said Nxesi.