Archbishop Tutu and Trevor Manuel decry moral decay – 23 July 2009

Addressing a memorial service in Athlone, Cape Town, for two young freedom fighters who died in a blast 20 years ago, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Minister in the Presidency, Trevor Manuel, urged a church packed with former activists to remember the values and principles that united communities and drove the anti-apartheid struggle.

“Do you remember the price that was paid for our freedom? We had some fantastic young people. They paid a very heavy price. We all paid a very heavy price. And for what? So some of us can have three motor cars?” Tutu asked.

Manuel recounted a recent conversation with ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe, in which Mantashe decried the setback to non-racialism that recently led to the Western Cape returning an opposition party to provincial government. “We must understand where we went wrong,” Manuel said.

Earlier, a cleansing ceremony was held at the statues erected to honour the young freedom fighters, Robbie Waterwitch and Coline Williams. Among the participants were the mothers of the two martyrs, Hettie Waterwitch-Coetzee and Wilhelmina Williams.