Delivered by: Mary Mapula Malebe
Title: Secretary, SayPro Royal Committee
Date: 21 March 2025
Theme: “Protecting Human Dignity, Honouring Our Legacy”

Ladies and gentlemen, elders, youth, leaders, and champions of humanity,

It is with deep honour and gratitude that I stand before you today, on this sacred occasion — Human Rights Day, a day that calls each of us to reflect, remember, and recommit.

I am Mary Mapula Malebe, Secretary of the SayPro Royal Committee. I speak today not only as an administrator or servant of leadership — but as a daughter of this soil, a witness to our shared struggles, and a believer in the unshakable power of community.

Today we remember the lives lost in Sharpeville in 1960. We remember not only the bullets, but the bravery. Not just the pain, but the protest — the protest of ordinary men and women who said “enough is enough.”

Human Rights Day is more than a national commemoration. It is a spiritual calling — a reminder that dignity is not granted by systems or status. It is the birthright of every child born on African soil.

At SayPro, and through the Royal Committee, we carry a sacred duty — to uphold the values of respect, equality, culture, and people-first development.

We must ask ourselves:

• Are we truly free if our youth cannot find work?
• Are we truly equal if girls are still silenced in boardrooms and classrooms?
• Can we claim justice while rural communities still live in isolation?

The answer lies not only in policy — but in participation.
Not only in the Constitution — but in conscience.

This is why the SayPro Royal Committee exists:
To bridge tradition and progress.
To ensure that development is rooted in culture, community, and compassion.
To serve not with authority — but with accountability to the people.

As a Committee, we honour this day by standing with SayPro in their mission:

• To educate, empower, and equip the youth,
• To create programmes that restore dignity,
• And to remind every person that they matter — not because of what they have, but because of who they are.

Let us use this day to renew our collective spirit. Let us build bridges between elders and the youth, between public institutions and the people, between technology and tradition.

Let us teach our children that human rights are not distant ideals — they are lived truths. And it is our shared responsibility to defend them every single day.

As the SayPro Royal Committee, we pledge our support, our voices, and our leadership. We will walk with you, work with you, and rise with you.

In the words of our ancestors:
“Motho ke motho ka batho ba bang.”
A person is a person through others.

May we carry that spirit forward — boldly, proudly, and with purpose.

Thank you.
May dignity, unity, and human rights guide all that we do.