Now that the dust has settled on Freedom Day — April 27, the 16th anniversary of the first time all South Africans voted in a democratic election — it is worth reflecting on what it means to be free, what we still need to do to achieve more freedom and what we need to do to protect the freedom we have.
There was a song we used to sing in Hanover Park in 1976 when we were protesting against the imposition of Afrikaans. Yes, the protests were not only restricted to Soweto and many people were killed all over the country, but that’s another story, the rewriting of our history, which I can deal with in another column). The song included the words: “Freedom isn’t free, freedom isn’t free. You’ve got to pay the price, you’ve got to sacrifice, for your liberty.”
We never took much note of the words of freedom songs then, even though we sang along with gusto. I suppose this is probably why today not many people interrogate the words of the “Kill the Boer” song or “Umshini wami” before they sing it. There is a mindlessness that creeps in when one sings these songs, or any songs for that matter.
I have been shocked when I’ve heard four-year-olds sing “I wanna sex you up” or words to that effect and realise that they heard the song on radio and were just singing along. The same could probably be said of adults.
We used to believe that we would have to sacrifice in order to achieve our freedom and many of us were prepared to do so, because we thought that freedom for all our people would be worth the sacrifice of a few.
Now that we have had 16 years of freedom we are realising that freedom has never really been defined and we are asking ourselves whether the sacrifices made by many have been worth it.
So many sacrificed their lives, on both sides of the divide: from Ashley Kriel, Coline Williams, Anton Fransch, Hector Pietersen, Matthew Goniwe, Fort Galata, among many, to the young white men who were conscripted into the apartheid army to fight a war they did not understand or, if they did, they did not support. Many of their bodies came back from Angola in body bags and the media were not allowed to report on their deaths.
What is the definition of freedom? There are basic human values and expectations that we should support and we should demand as the minimum of a free society.
These values include a belief in non-racism and non-sexism, in fact a total disdain for discrimination of any sort so that we can move towards a more tolerant society.
We should also demand a society in which everyone would have equal access to education, justice, decent housing, the economy and job opportunities. Very importantly, we should demand the right to feel safe in our homes and our communities.
Many of these rights are enshrined in the Freedom Charter, the amazing document that was adopted at Kliptown in 1995 and which remains — or should be — a beacon of what we hope to achieve in our country.
The actions of all our politicians and political parties should be judged against their abilities to deliver on these values and expectations. Many times the ANC government has failed to deliver on these values — and that is sad — but I don’t know whether a DA government or any other would do any better.
The task of those of us who operate in civil society should be to remind our political leaders of the need to deliver on these values. We should move away from blind loyalty to any one political party and instead start judging parties on whether they perform, whether they are able to make sure that we are moving towards the kind of freedom we all desire.
I have no problem with supporting the ANC on one issue, the DA on another issue or Cope on something else. After all, this is what freedom means. The freedom to decide who I want to support politically without fear of repercussions.
Having said all of the above, I am not trying to discount the achievements of the past 16 years. We have made amazing progress as a country, but our country still looks too much like the South Africa of old. We still have too much poverty, joblessness, homelessness and crime.
We have a poor majority who are quickly running out of patience. They are still waiting to see the South Africa promised in the Freedom Charter.
My biggest fear is that if we don’t make a commitment to fight for these values and expectations, then we could lose the freedoms we have gained already.
The fight for freedom is an ongoing fight and the sacrifices many have made have not been enough.
The sacrifices today might be different but they are still important. They could include sacrificing part of your earnings to support deserving charities, getting involved in activities in disadvantaged communities, or getting involved in civil society groups that could pressure the government to deliver on values and expectations.
This is the only way we can preserve and build our freedom.
(Originally published in the Cape Argus on Wednesday 5 May 2010 and in the Marketviews May online newsletter)
Ryland I hear you. But you do not touch on the responsibility that comes with freedom, which is every person’s responsibility. I have learnt in Gramscian speak to see politics in cultural terms of pop culture and hegemony. Civic society is not leading a counter culture that seeks to empower the majority to appeal to another authority say the courts other than the politicians. The politicians seem to believe the Schumpeter’s observation that “most people are not up to freedom, all they want is to be fed and entertained”.
@ Fisher
You talk of amazing progress, what progress since 1994. Lets review honestly the state of the South African nation.
300 000 killed in Mbeki’s AIDS holocaust
Murder and violent crime now reaches 50 a day
One of the worst wealth distribution curves in the world
An exodus of the talented young whites and Indians who could save this country
Failed judiciary and a totally dysfunctional police force
Over 2 million REAL jobs lost since 1994 (not tomato and sweet sellers at the taxi ranks, real jobs)
No real improvement in Matric pass rate since 1994
Extensive corruption at all levels of politics and government
Serious assault on our constitution
A soccer event that has cost us R50 000 000 000 (no, thats not my cell phone number it’s 50 billion Rand – the soccer event only, not the infrastructure spending)
The threat of nationalising mines and other industries
Failed land redistribution – 90% failure rate among new farmers
I ask those who champion the ANC cause since 2000, are you proud of your poisoned legacy.
Ryland,
An excellent article.
The major concern I believe is one of ownership. The ANC believe that they ARE the masses, whereas nowadays they are truly bloated capitalists or even dictators. I’ve got nothing against capitalists and am one myself – but I have a great deal of dislike for those who feather their own nests.
And this is at the heart of the problem. If the ANC don’t see the pain of the masses until it’s too late, they will pull a Mugabe on SA: find a scapegoat when the painful truth of loss of voting support hits their personal lifestyle ambitions…
At that stage it’s too late for SA…
The biggest freedom we need is to challenge corrupt politicians and hold them accountable. In SA they are sacred cows – in other countries eg NZ they receive a pounding if they are seen to be dipping their hands in the till or not performing even…
Our people – black and white – are shackled by unthinking support that’s built up over decades of apartheid. We need to be vocal and critical.
The best thing we can do for SA is to start an organisation of independant “judges” of government minister delivery: a group like Tutu, Van Zyl Slabbert… Start a website with marks for Ministers…
We need the freedom to join together to demand accountability !
“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to loose.”
Many of us are close to this definition of freedom. But most people want to be slave to consumerism. Politically we are slaves to the ANC.
We need freedom from the ANC.
Thanks Fisher, I wish more and more South Africans could sort of one day wake up with a less lazy mind, and see things as you have put them. There is indeed a lot of mindlessness in most of our actions and even in the way we think. Thanks once again for this articles, I’ve just sent a friend request to you on Facebook, I am hoping you have this article under your notes or discussions there so that I may refer people/friends to it.
Not to trivialise your post, but I have certainly moved on from ‘Ten green bottles’ and ‘Roll me over’ during the past two decades. Is nobody in the black majority writing any new songs with catchy tunes and fun, harmless lyrics? It all smacks of the complaints about reading: there are no books in our languages…Write them, then!
And there’s the rub. A people that refuses to think for itself, is hardly likely to define its freedom intelligently. After all, bling is hardly freedom; as far as many have reached…
John and Peter Win
Excellent comments
The ANC led Government have lost all direction as to how to spend the wealth od SA – i.e taxation and loans.
For example, take the World Soccer tournament.
The Human Development Index rqtes SA 129 out of 182 countries – 19 places behind Gaza and West Bank
SA is the most unequal country in the world
In 2006 34.1% of SA’s lived on less than $2 a day
In 2009 42.9% of SA’s lived on less than $2 a day
SA’s unemployment rate is 40% +
From 2006 to 2009 life expectancy has fallen by 13 years
Yet, we spend $30 billion on a football tournament
for the full article see
http://thoughtleader.co.za/chrisrodrigues/2010/05/10/south-africas-world-cup-is-a-disgrace/
Mr Fisher I truly understand what you mean in this article. There is a lot of apathy and complacency amongst a lot South Africans when it comes to the blood that was shed for our freedom. The masses don’t seem to vote for the one who can make a difference politically rather they like soccer fans, where a lot of loyalty is age-old and interventions such as swinging the vote are few. A lot people do not manipulate government like it manipulates us. We all think service delivery comes with bows, chocolate and poorly built RDP housing because we deserve it and wonder why ‘tendertrapeneurs’ have nice cars. We are holding ourselves back as though someone is going to reward us for our obedience and meekness. Not yet UHURU ladies and gentlemen we have to work in that hard spirit that created Black Solidarity during Apartheid we are a strong country in our continent and held in high regard all around the world, but no-one eats prestige. The reality is that the work of day is not through. I remain.
An excellent article Ryland. May I make one small comment though?
Is part of the problem not that too many South Africans have not made the change from “fighting” for freedom, or whatever else they want, to “working” for freedom or what they want? I know that this may seem like mere semantics, but the words that we use to describe ourselves and our actions have great power to define how we see ourselves and our environment. Fighting for something means that we see ourselves violently (at least to some extent) resting that thing from someone else. Working for something means that we see ourselves taking responsibility for the creation and/or development of what we want.
This small matter of words actually boils down to the difference between destruction & creation/development, anger & peace, personal responsibility & blaming someone else for my circumstance.
Changing our words could be the start to changing our actions.
We are too late. SA freedom will be the freedom of Africa. To starve and to fight. That’s all.
Freedom is generally not well and uniquely defined. It is a perception in many people minds.
The best description (not definition!) I ever came across is: “My freedom ends where someone else’s freedom begins”.
It implies that freedom comes with limitations, respect, self control and sensitivity for “the other”.
All this requires education along these lines and sufficient intelligence to absorb and live with it.
Ryland
You state: “The sacrifices today might be different but they are still important. They could include sacrificing part of your earnings to support deserving charities, getting involved in activities in disadvantaged communities, or getting involved in civil society groups that could pressure the government to deliver on values and expectations.”
I agree that sacrifices are important , but I am getting to a point where I cannot sacrifice more financialy. I pay 40% tax on my salary (PAYE), 14% on most purchases (VAT), school fees (about 10% of my disposable income every month), rates and taxes to my local municipality (increases in execess of inflation every year – note that electricity wil increase to three times current levels over the next few years), etc. ,etc… Unfortunately, I do not see much value for the huge taxes I pay. Where do we draw the line?
History has shown that revolutions in every country broke out because this seemed to be the only road to freedom. After having won the fight, the new leaders took freedom away. Read about the French revolution, the Soviet one, the Chinese one. The new ruling class became the new oppressor within a very short time. The most dangerous politicians nowadays justify their evil deeds by saying that they do everything “in the name of the people”. All so-called “people’s democracies” are the most insidious dictatorships.
You just like the rest of the mail and guardian scribes who will always see wrong as long as is not done by thier own.Til now none of you has so far told South A fricans whois employed by the western cape province since the DA took over are there any people employed in the top positions of government who are not members of the DA.
Ryland, this is the exact thing that has been bothering me for years. I feel a huge part of the problem of unemployment and poverty + all the other social ills which stem from them is basically lack of decent education and work skills. If the govt invests in skills training for the poor, this country will be transformed. More people could get decent jobs and others could start their own businesses.
I implore the government to focus on this specific issue as it would transform the lives of the poor, boost the economy and have more people paying tax!