South Africa’s Milestones of Freedom campaign has reached Mpumalanga, highlighting democratic gains in education, land restitution and women’s representation while honouring the province’s liberation history.
Deputy Minister in the Presidency Kenny Morolong officially launched the campaign in the Govan Mbeki Local Municipality in the Gert Sibande District, calling on South Africans to recognise the progress achieved since 1994 while continuing to build on the country’s democratic gains.
The campaign was launched nationally by President Cyril Ramaphosa in June under the theme, “Honouring the Past. Delivering the Future.”
It commemorates four significant anniversaries in 2026: 30 years since the adoption of the Constitution, 50 years since the 1976 youth uprising, 70 years since the 1956 Women’s March and 60 years since the forced removals from District Six.
For the Mpumalanga launch, Morolong connected those national milestones with people and communities that played an important role in the province’s liberation history.
He honoured Gert Sibande, known as the “Lion of the East”, whose activism included fighting for the rights of farm workers and African communities. Sibande was among the 156 anti-apartheid leaders arrested and charged with treason in 1956.
Morolong also remembered Nokuthula Simelane, who was abducted, tortured and killed by members of the apartheid-era Security Branch in 1983 when she was 23.
He called for truth, accountability and justice in Simelane’s case and other unresolved apartheid-era crimes, pointing to the judicial commission of inquiry established by Ramaphosa to investigate whether attempts were made to prevent their investigation and prosecution.
The contribution of women to Mpumalanga’s liberation struggle was also recognised through the story of Nomoya Christina Masilela, who was killed by apartheid security forces in 1985.
Morolong said institutions such as the Nomoya Masilela Museum and Nomoya Masilela Cultural Precinct were important to preserving these histories for future generations.
The launch also provided an opportunity to examine how life in Mpumalanga has changed during more than three decades of democracy.
According to figures cited by Morolong from the 2025 General Household Survey, 91.3% of people aged five and older in Mpumalanga attended school, while more than 80% of learners in the province and several others benefited from school nutrition programmes at public schools.
Education gains extend to the national level.
South Africa’s matric pass rate increased from 58% in 1994 to 88% in 2025, while more than two-thirds of bachelor passes in 2025 were achieved by learners from previously disadvantaged schools.
Access to higher education has also expanded through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, which Morolong said had funded more than five million students up to the 2025/26 financial year.
Land restitution provided another measure of transformation highlighted during the launch.
By March 2025, 83 205 land claims had been settled nationally, restoring 3.9 million hectares to communities and individuals dispossessed of their land.
In Mpumalanga, Morolong highlighted the restoration of more than 627 hectares to the Mtshoeni/Mtsweni family, involving 18 households and 86 beneficiaries.
The associated Communal Property Association is using the restored land for maize and soybean production and livestock farming.
Government has provided more than R16.5 million in post-settlement support covering livestock farming, grain production and skills development.
For Morolong, initiatives of this nature demonstrate how freedom can move beyond commemoration and translate into restored land, economic participation and dignity.
With the provincial launch taking place during Women’s Month, the Deputy Minister also highlighted advances in women’s representation.
Women now constitute approximately 43.5% of Members of Parliament and occupy both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker positions in the National Assembly.
Of the country’s 75 executive members, 32 are women, including 14 Cabinet Ministers and 18 Deputy Ministers.
Morolong also highlighted the historic appointment of Justice Mandisa Maya as South Africa’s first female Chief Justice in 2024 and government’s 40% public procurement target for women-owned businesses.
He acknowledged that further work remains necessary to expand women’s economic opportunities and address gender-based violence and femicide, unemployment, poverty and inequalities in access to land, leadership and technology.
Mpumalanga MEC for Transport Thulasizwe Thomo said Bethal provided an important setting for the provincial launch because of its connection to the struggles of farm workers, political activists and young people.
“To speak about the liberation history of Mpumalanga without speaking about Bethal would therefore be to leave out an important part of the province’s contribution to the broader struggle for freedom in South Africa,” Thomo said.
For Morolong, the Milestones of Freedom campaign provides an opportunity to connect these histories with measurable changes in South Africans’ lives.
While the country’s democratic transformation remains a continuing process, he urged citizens to use the campaign to remember those who fought for freedom, recognise what has been achieved since 1994 and continue working towards a future in which those gains reach more South Africans.
The campaign’s central test is whether historical recognition is matched by tangible improvements in people’s lives, especially through tracking land, education and women’s empowerment outcomes in Mpumalanga over time.
