South Africa celebrates Freedom Day

This year, South Africa celebrates 30 years of freedom. On the 27th of April 1994, the era of apartheid was finally over, and The New South Africa was set in motion. Millions of South Africans, of many races, queued for hours, making sure they made their mark. The African National Congress, with Nelson Mandela at the helm, ushered in the dawn of democracy.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu coined the phrase “the rainbow nation”, which caught on quickly, and South Africa’s dark past was packed away in the shadows, where it belongs, and a brighter more promising future in the distance. If we cast our minds back to the runup to the 1994 elections, and compare how we felt compared to now, weeks before the 7th democratic elections, things have certainly changed a lot. Thirty years ago, the air was filled with excitement, anticipation, hopes and dreams. Now, the air is filled with broken promises, disappointment and for many, no clear way forward.

So how did we get here? Once the euphoria of 1994 had begun to settle, the glitter was thrown up in the air again as the country united behind the Springboks for the Rugby World Cup. And what an event it was! It was a time of shared excitement, togetherness, and victory! And over the past 30 years, there have been many wonderful events and occasions where the people of the rainbow nation had the opportunity to, once again, join hands and celebrate together, as one.

But dancing, singing, and celebrating cannot possibly hold the nation together on their own, when there are millions of South Africans who still, to this day, have not received what they were promised. From clean running water to free education, housing to adequate and sufficient medical care, stable electricity supply to unemployment – the country has its problems. Surely thirty years is more than enough to deliver on these promises?

With Nelson Mandela long gone, it appears that his legacy is not a priority to uphold anymore by the politicians who put him in the position of president of South Africa in the first place. The same people who fought beside him for freedom for all South Africans. Is it a case of “now that you have it, you don’t know what to do with it?”
It’s devastating for millions of South Africans whose wants, needs, dreams and hopes have never changed, but have never been realised. It’s the many people in power whose wants, needs, dreams and hopes have shifted from a united goal to a quest for personal enrichment and gratification.

As the elections draw closer on 29 May, there are those who can’t be bothered to vote anymore as they realise that electioneering is simply about shouting out promises, which will likely never come to fruition. Still, there remains the freedom to vote. It is this freedom we celebrate thirty years since the end of apartheid. The freedom to choose. The freedom to be heard. The freedom to be human. Whether it’s the lingering light of the rainbow nation, a heavenly being watching down on us in the form of Nelson Mandela, or delusion, there are some who remain ever-hopeful that maybe this time around, things will work out better for the country.

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