Chissano receives high honour from South Africa

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Chissano receives high honour from South Africa

12:32 CAT | 02 May 2018

File photo: Rádio Moçambique

Former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano was among four African leaders granted one of South Africa’s highest honours on Saturday.

At the ceremony in Pretoria, the “Order of the Companions of Oliver Tambo in Gold” was bestowed on Chissano, on the former Presidents of Namibia and Liberia, Sam Nujoma and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and on the late President of Botswana, Ketumile Masire.

During the ceremony, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa paid tribute to all those who had supported the South African liberation struggle during the dark years of apartheid.

“Many countries offered solidarity and opened their arms to our activists”, he said. “Many people in our neighbouring countries lost life and limb for our cause”.

“We honour those remarkable human beings who stood alongside our people‚ at home and in exile‚ who provided material and other assistance to our students‚ activists and combatants”, Ramaphosa continued. “In doing so‚ we express our sincere and eternal gratitude to them for joining a struggle that was not theirs‚ in a land far from their own‚ and for giving so much‚ for so long‚ to so many”.

Other honours were awarded to South Africans who had distinguished themselves in the fields of culture, sport, science, medicine, business, and the struggle for democracy and human rights.

The awards, Ramaphosa said, “are a recognition of the many outstanding individuals who defied great odds to make an immense contribution in various spheres of life. Our freedom opened windows of opportunity for many to chase their dreams, to excel, to succeed, and in so doing to inspire others to reach beyond what they imagined possible”.

He dedicate the ceremony to the memory of South Africa’s first democratically elected President, Nelson Mandela, “who, more than any other, embodied the spirit and the intent of these orders”.

“The outstanding individuals that we honour here today are, in different ways, champions of freedom, peace, human rights, social justice and equality”, Ramaphosa declared. “In whatever area they have applied themselves, each of today’s recipients have honoured and upheld the values to which Nelson Mandela dedicated his life”.

Source: AIM