Ramaphosa praised the role of the Free State in his Freedom Day speech

President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed the Free State as the place where South Africa’s fire for freedom was lit.

The President spoke in the Dr. Rantlai Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein, where the government is hosting this year’s Freedom Day rally.

Ramaphosa said Bloemfontein is where the ANC was formed in 1912, with the main aim of overthrowing the Apartheid government.

A year later, women from the then Orange Free State started anti-pass protest campaigns that later broke out across the country.

“Rather than being broken, the women of the Orange Free State became more determined because they did not want to accept a system that would deny them dignity and freedom. Today we celebrate that here in the free state the struggle waged by the women of the province and other parts of the country has been successful.”