SIHMA | Scalabrini Institute For Human Mobility In Africa

South Africa Celebrating 30 years of Freedom

Thirty years ago, on the 27th  of April, South Africa conducted its first democratic election where millions of South Africans voted against the apartheid regime. This was a memorable event that welcomed South Africa to freedom after many years of oppression, inequality, corruption, social ills, and lawlessness only to mention a few. For South Africa, the “Freedom Day” is not just a commemoration of freedom from these challenges but also a commemoration of the sacrifices that many sons and daughters of the land made for the country to be free from oppression. The freedom brought by the 1994 elections led to the drafting and amendments of different laws and policies and the development of the Constitution of South Africa being the supreme law of the country. Under the constitution, the rights of everyone living in South Africa are protected, which is a great gain that came with the freedom in South Africa.

As we celebrate “Freedom Day”, it is essential to do an audit of the gains that have been brought by democracy and ways in which democracy is being abused or gaps that make people living in South Africa to lose the real gains of democracy. It is also important to re-think on how to make South Africa welcoming and hospitable to all that live in it despite of their race, socio-economic, religious, or cultural background, country of origin and other factors that makes us different. Through unity in diversity, and peaceful co-existences, we can together contribute to the advancement of the country, dignity, and freedom that many that many heroes and heroines sacrificed their lives for.

Photo by pjedrzejczyk on Pixabay


Categories:
Tags:

Post Categories


Posts by Tags