Friday 27 April 2012

South African Freedom Day- Are we really free?

BEAUTIFUL COLOURS OF OUR FLAG: Freedom day is portrayed
to our flag. Source: www.southafricareview.blogspot.com
Freedom Day, is a South African Holiday, celebrated on April 27. It celebrates freedom and commemorates the first post-apartheid elections that took place on that day in 1994. What does it really mean to be free? Being free should mean having choice over your life as well as your rights that need to be respected and protected by others. In the South African context, it also means the political freedom to vote. But the bigger question here is, are we really protected or are our rights respected? It has been 18 years since apartheid, but freedom is far from absolute. The legacy of apartheid is still evident to this country's poverty, racial inequalities as well as socio-economic disparities. There are people saying "everybody is free", but people can still not walk everywhere they want because of fear of crime such as getting robbed, raped or killed.

There is so much crime in this country compared to other countries. and we are not even at war. My question is; are we abusing freedom or valuing it? The former President of the African National Congress Youth League, Julius Malema, sang traditional struggle song, 'DUBUL' IBHUNU'  meaning that 'Shoot the Boer',  which contains explicit violent lyrics that implies the killing of white farmers.  Even the government is introducing legislation's  that could suppress our freedom, such the Secrecy Bill, aimed at violating our rights and freedom of expression and as well as access to classified information about the state.

What Freedom Day needs to be about?
  • Its supposed to be the time to heal the old wounds for those who died fighting for freedom
  • Honouring and respect the rights of others
  • Focus on building a new South Africa and safer one
  • looking outside ourselves and finding balance where we can coexist in peace instead of being selfish.
Freedom Day, is valuable. It is the time by which we pledge to achieve a better life for all. We need campaigns and the support from our government, so that we make everyone aware that they need to stand up for their rights and and fight for what they believe in. If we are selfish with our freedom and violates rights of others, we are not better than the apartheid government. Is this kind of freedom we have in South Africa leading to chaos?

44 comments:

  1. 25 years ago black student coudnot get in at unversities and those who did they couldnot study what the wanted. the was no good infrastures for black township but since 1994 the first democratic elections took place thing have change , the point that im trying to make is we should be thankful that we are born free and that is up to us to make a difference not the government stop pushing blame and start working with the little oppoertunties which you are given examle nfsas

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    1. It saddens me to see that there are still people, who still don't value the freedom that our people died for. Compare the youth of 1976 and the youth of today, I am sure that you can see the bigger difference, believe me. We do have opprtunities, but the big question is, do we have enough information about how to access those services and opportunities given unto us. Some people do not get information and end up doing silly things in the townships. SA is on its knees to downfall if we are not careful. We have the world in our hands and soon we will be out of school and ready to improve SA, lets take up the opportunities that we have and also value the freedom we have by honouring those ideals who died for us to be free....lets all work together to build a new South Africa

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  2. We as the youth of today, we have what it take to change the way things are. They have fought for our freedom but we do not value such as education as they did back in 1976.

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    1. You know, having education is a privilege and it make me angry to see that there is still people who take it for granted. Even though you may not have a job, but what matters the most is that you have a future back-up.

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  3. The way i see things FREEDOM day is nolonger celebrated as it should be, what we take into account is that we not going to school, work ect and some did not even know the 27th was freedom day. Change is within us.

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    1. Yes you right, we are the ones who can bring change to this country, because the freedom that we have did not come easily and there were ideals who sacrificed their lives so that we have the freedom that we have today

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  4. most people do not even know why we celebrate freedom day ,i think that is the reason why they do not celebrate it accordinly.

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    1. Well, the significance of Freedom Day, is that on Freedom Day, we commit ourselves to ensuring the defence of the sacred freedoms that we had won as a result of a long, difficult and costly struggle. We remind ourselves that the guarantee of these freedoms requires permanent vigilance. It is our pledge to devote ourselves to continue to work to wipe out the legacy of racism in our country. We need to ensure that all our people enjoy these freedoms not merely as theoretical rights but they must form the daily life experience of all South Africans. Freedom Day is very important to us, and it is time people need to realise the significance of it because without freedom we would not have been where we are today, so I am saying that we should be all greatful and celebrate this day accordingly

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  5. i think freedom day its for rich people cause they did benefit from the freedom i mean whats the reason of celabrating the day and the next day you don't have something to eat.

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    1. Freedom Day is not all for rich people Sandile, its for all of us as South Africans as a whole, rich, poor, black, white, colored, indian...this day is for us to celebrate those ideals who died fighting for us to be where we are today, as well as the 27 April 1994 where it all started, where black people were finally free from apartheid oppressions and got a right to cast their votes. We are who we are because of freedom it doen't matter you black or what?

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  6. It seems like people are abusing their freedom because nowadays you get teenagers who are under age who abuse alcohol and when they are asked they say they are free they can do whatever they want. I really feel that we have lost the true meaning of freedom day,especially us the young youth.

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    1. The problem with drinking, I think kids drink because of the influence of alcohol they get from the communities to grow. Freedom syas you can do whatever you like as long its your life but my question is do people do what our freedom is set to? No they don't. Thank you

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  7. i think that people dont know what freedom day means so they just misuse the day and dont make an effort to honour it whilst it comes far,a lot of things were done in order for us to get this day

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    1. true to that, that is why I am saying government needs to introduce awareness campaigns to make people aware of this day

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  8. The question you posed was, are we valuing or abusing Freedom Day? The way I see it , if an individual has an understanding of what Fredom Day is he/she will respect the day. It is just like Youth day whereby the now generation takes the opportunity to wear school uniforms, go out, drink alcohol and procliam to be celebarating their "freedom". If you do not have a sense of understanding for something, you won't value or respect it.

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    1. My point excatly, this day is much relevant to this country and anyone who lives in this country need to take part on celebrations about this day.

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  9. i find you blog informative i just wish that communities engage itn having events that will tell children more about freedom day and schools should start history class from primary so that children can adopt to what freedom day means

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    1. history is very important and learners or students take it for granted. it is important to know where do we come from as a country.

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  10. As far as i see the world today i can say that we are protected but when watching movies based on apartheid thats when i feel that it is not just about freedom but about what we believe in and the way that freedom fighter really fought to make this possible. Yes people still have a fear to walk in the streets but i think freedom from apartheid has to do with no restrictions from most things that we need such as education as for safety problem i think someone is not doing his/her job.

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    1. What you are saying is so certain, and yes we we do have freedom, but why do we still have fears about walking wherever we want. Freedom has opened many does for us, but right now what I can say is that, our government wants to reinstate the apartheid system, for example oppressive laws in this country such as Information Bill which was the system that was used during the apartheid system in 1982.

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  11. The media must tell us more about our past, the apartheid era so we may know why we need to celebrate this day.Instead of watching events taking place on freedom day.

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    1. the media does give us enough information about the freedom day, just that people do not take it seriously, thats just the way it is, there are some people who are just not interested to what happens to this country, people don't read newspapers

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  12. i can say we are a liltle bit free but we still leg behind because of the issues in our counrty and greediness in the political parties where by those in power still surpress the poor in a polite manner.

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    1. Yes, there is a little freedom, poor remain poor in this country, riches get more rich while others sleep without anything to eat

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  13. some people do not celebrate freedom day because they are not free evn today, there is still discrimination because the are schools that still teach with Afrikan's only, do we call that a freedom.

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    1. you know, we do have freedom but a littole and its your choice whether to learn Afrikaanse or not

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  14. I think we still dont understand the meaning of freedom day, in South Africa, because the things we do is the opposite of freedom, for example if a man rape a 6 months baby who is still innocent and need to be protected, do you think that child is free from those rapist? people who fought for our freedom and died for us to be free today is people who knows and understand the meaning of freedom.

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    1. People really do things that are the opposite of what freedom day should all be about. There are institutions to ensure that there is a reduced number of these child right violation by protecting them from evil men. it seems like we don't value those people who died for our freedom

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  15. Some people are still not free out there so for them freedom day doesnt mean anything for them.But importantly we have to remember that people lost their lives fighting for our freedom

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    1. True to that, if we do not celebrate freedom day the way its supposed to be, that shows that we really do not care about those people who died for this country to be free

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  16. The freedom we have today in SA is something which we should be grateful for, but a lot still needs to be done! I'm talking poverty, unemployment and education issues, our leaders need to do more in those areas, but I think we'll get there at some point.

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    1. It is imperative for South Africans of diverse political and economic backgrounds to work towards a common objective and celebrate freedom day very well. On Freedom Day we celebrate the relentless efforts of those who fought for liberation, of the many men and women who took up arms and courted imprisonment, bannings and torture on behalf of the oppressed masses.Sure we will get there, this country will find peace one day, thats my hope.

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  17. It is funny that we celabrate freedom day but at the same time we not free especially with our rights.

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    1. It is important that when you feel that you not free with your rights, you satnd up and fight for your right and never let anybody violate your rights

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  18. People would always complain even if you can just give them a silver spoon in their mouth. We should try and accomodate the change that had been brought by the regime than comparing what will it be if we did this or if we did'nt do this. Because frankly we are enjoying our liberty indispite of the rights or any issues in that mattter...

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    1. Most importantly by showing our commitment to have a desire to learn and teach others who know nothing about freedom day. Freedom will not come to you but you have to search for freedom

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  19. We are realy free because their is education for all.And we have a choice of what we want to study and we choose to wear what ever we fell like wearing.

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    1. The education is for all yes, but do people take that into account? Frankly, they take what is given to them and say that its rare to have a good education that will get a good job for them, but why, are they having this perception? Its because of the lack of information and lack of commitment

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  20. freedom is the most important day for south africans but it seems as if most people don't celebrate especially the youth.this is wrong we should honour this day and remember those who died fighting for us.

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    1. All people say that freedom day is important. They think that its just a public holiday we need to tell them why we are actuall celebrating it so that they see its relevance to Mzantsi history

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  21. i can honestly say Yes we do have Freedom but the thing is that we are abusing it and taking it for granted. some of the youth of today uses the freedom day holiday for partying instead of going to educational places where they will find more information on how this day came about....how sad.

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    1. it is immensely sad that people take this important day or granted. they drink while others are hounoring those who died for our freedom

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  22. All I can say is that we are all free just that we do not have an understanding of what it really means to be free in South Africa. Rights and Responsibilities go hand-in-clove...just we are misusing our own rights and especially the youth.

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    1. Being free means having a full control ober you live and doing what you think you can. By saying this you can do what you want, but try to not go over the limit, show some respect for south african ideals who died during apartheid so that we are free

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