OVERVIEW: ‘Material manifestation of racism – white wealth and black poverty – is the norm’ – Ramaphosa at Biko lecture

President #Ramaphosa: So let us march forth, as Steve Biko called on us to do, with courage and determination to bestow upon South Africa the greatest gift possible – a more human face. I thank you.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: But ultimately, we will not succeed unless we forge a new morality. We need leaders who serve with diligence and commitment, seeking neither advantage nor undue rewards for themselves.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: We have begun the work, but there is much more to do. Commissions of inquiry, disciplinary hearings, criminal prosecution and lengthy prison sentences are necessary instruments to tackle this scourge. #BIKOLecture

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: Now in the 25th year of our democracy, we must acknowledge with shame and regret that we have failed to live up to the standards of the selfless leaders that came before us. #BIKOLecture

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: As we emerge from the corruption of apartheid, we are called upon to forge a new morality, which places the interests of the people above the narrow interests of the individual. #BIKOLecture

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

Ramaphosa: It is our responsibility to both confront deeply embedded feelings of inferiority that manifest in submission and also deal with the superiority that is expressed in supremacy #BikoLecture

— SA Gov News (@SAgovnews) September 14, 2018

#BikoLecture Ramaphosa: Bantu Biko led people, not a party. Lots of claps and cheers in the room @TeamNews24

— Matshidiso Madia (@tshidi_lee) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: We must build a society that is defined by compassion, selflessness and generosity. We must give effect to the expression: ‘From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.’ #BIKOLecture pic.twitter.com/kO5Pyb80q7

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

#BikoLecture Ramaphosa bringing the Guptas into his lecture without naming them speaks of “one family and their associates” moves on to say they’ve begun the work of cleaning but commissions of inquiry, cleaning up state institutions & lengthy prison time necessary @TeamNews24

— Matshidiso Madia (@tshidi_lee) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: Inequality severely constrains our ability as a country to realise our potential, it limits growth, perpetuates hardship and promotes instability. We must therefore become a society defined by solidarity, not competition. #BIKOLecture

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: Our quest for a true humanity requires that we end poverty. No society can be free for as long as any member is denied the basic requirements of life – food, shelter, water, security, work. #BIKOLecture

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: The assertion by women of their own power and agency is the foundation on which we must work together to eradicate all forms and manifestations of patriarchy.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: As black consciousness is a necessary part of the response to racism, so too is the self-affirmation of women necessary for the achievement of gender equality.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

#BikoLecture Ramaphosa: those of us with endowed with progress should feel a sense to plough back @TeamNews24

— Matshidiso Madia (@tshidi_lee) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: The struggle against patriarchy is therefore a struggle against the social norms, the attitudes and the thoughts that embolden men and enfeeble women.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: Women bear the brunt of centuries of discrimination and oppression, imposed in this case not by a colonial power, but by the traditions, practices and institutions of the societies into which they were born.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: Throughout history, there are few relationships more unequal than those between men and women.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: While naked racism is an aberration, the material manifestation of racism – white wealth and black poverty – is the norm.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

#BikoLecture Ramaphosa: we must educate the black child and the girl child - to stop poverty being inter-generational @TeamNews24

— Matshidiso Madia (@tshidi_lee) September 14, 2018

#BikoLecture Ramaphosa says thanks to Biko and many others like him that society reacts with revulsion when racism is exposed @TeamNews24

— Matshidiso Madia (@tshidi_lee) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: Even today, we observe, in ways both subtle and crude, the residue of white entitlement and black submission. Thanks to the advent of social media, the prejudice that lurks below the surface is, from time to time, given virulent expression. #BIKOLecture

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Rampahosa: While some regard black consciousness as a historical artefact, the ideas that Steve Biko propounded are timeless and universal. They are no less powerful and no less relevant today. #BIKOLecture

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: His answer, black consciousness, was for the black person to see themselves as being complete in themselves.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: Biko taught us the revolutionary value of the confidence of black people in their own humanity. He spoke of the debilitating effect of centuries of colonialism on the psyche of black people, making them complicit in perpetuating a sense of inferiority.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: It was present at the formation of the liberation movements, during the campaigns of defiance, the strikes and the stayaways, the armed resistance.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: It is that quest – for a true humanity – that must lie at the core of our every endeavour. For decades, this quest has been a constant companion to the struggles of our people for freedom, dignity and respect. #BIKOLecture

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

#BikoLecture Ramaphosa says Biko sought to lead his people to the table of humanity - not under or next to it @TeamNews24

— Matshidiso Madia (@tshidi_lee) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: What Steve Biko lived for was to restore the true humanity of all people, black and white, and to build a society in which there would no majority, nor minority. There would just be people, free, fulfilled and at peace. #BIKOLecture

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: It was a life dedicated to the pursuit of freedom, equality and truth. It was the life of a great, but humble, revolutionary who fiercely rejected the false hierarchy of races. He spoke with a burning eloquence of the essential humanity of all people.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: It was a life dedicated to the pursuit of freedom, equality and truth. It was the life of a great, but humble, revolutionary who fiercely rejected the false hierarchy of races. He spoke with a burning eloquence of the essential humanity of all people.

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

Ramaphosa: Madiba had huge respect for Steve Biko and in our discussions he often spoke fondly about him #BikoLecture

— SA Gov News (@SAgovnews) September 14, 2018

Ramaphosa: Madiba had huge respect for Steve Biko and in our discussions he often spoke fondly about him #BikoLecture

— SA Gov News (@SAgovnews) September 14, 2018

Ramaphosa: Madiba had huge respect for Steve Biko and in our discussions he often spoke fondly about him #BikoLecture

— SA Gov News (@SAgovnews) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: It is an honour for me to be delivering this lecture during the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela. Earlier this week, we commemorated the 41st anniversary of the death in detention of Steven Bantu Biko. #BIKOLecture

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

President #Ramaphosa: It is an honour for me to be delivering this lecture during the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela. Earlier this week, we commemorated the 41st anniversary of the death in detention of Steven Bantu Biko. #BIKOLecture

— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) September 14, 2018

#BikoLecture security removing demonstrators from the ZK Matthews hall @TeamNews24 pic.twitter.com/MPfFnKNYqz

— Matshidiso Madia (@tshidi_lee) September 14, 2018

#BikoLecture demonstrators singing “Biko wethu” trying to make their way to the stage @TeamNews24 pic.twitter.com/bjS55LBJC0

— Matshidiso Madia (@tshidi_lee) September 14, 2018

#SteveBikoLecture #BikoLecture BREAKING: Protesters now disrupt proceedings. pic.twitter.com/xHe9HCuayC

— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) September 14, 2018

#BikoLecture demonstrators stand up as Ramaphosa approaches the podium @TeamNews24 pic.twitter.com/hX0AYGbiIM

— Matshidiso Madia (@tshidi_lee) September 14, 2018

His excellency President @CyrilRamaphosa on podium to deliver the 19th Annual Steve Biko Lecture @unisa #BikoLecture https://t.co/cjGEP3ZKrg

— Unisa (@unisa) September 14, 2018

#BikoLecture Nkosinathi Biko asking for all teams[Political formations] to avail their best in the 2019 General Election. pic.twitter.com/Vqcv54Sdp4

— Samkele Maseko (@samkelemaseko) September 14, 2018

#BikoLecture Prof Makhanya back at the podium to introduce Ramaphosa @TeamNews24

— Matshidiso Madia (@tshidi_lee) September 14, 2018

#BikoLecture the younger Biko tells Ramaphosa he did well to give Mma Sobukwe a state funeral, “she was a national asset” says we have to learn to find a balance between party & state @TeamNews24

— Matshidiso Madia (@tshidi_lee) September 14, 2018

Executive Trustee of the Steve @BikoFoundation Mr
Nkosinathi Biko says "if #Biko was alive he'd be 72 years old". The @BikoFoundation was established 20 years ago. I want to commend the many young men and women who have kept the board alive. He paid a special tribute to Mrs Biko. pic.twitter.com/7KAXa4LguI

— Unisa (@unisa) September 14, 2018

Founder and Executive Trustee of the @BikoFoundation Mr Nkosinathi Biko passes message to @PresidencyZA @CyrilRamaphosa from the #FeesMustFall movement regarding the incarcerated student prisoners and those facing charges #BikoLecture @WitsFMF @FeesMustFallWC pic.twitter.com/ysRjRCQiJh

— SteveBikoFoundation (@BikoFoundation) September 14, 2018