INLSA
Jackson Mthembu
This week we have the privilege of looking back to April 27, 1994. This is a cardinal day on our national calendar, when freedom was made real for millions of our people and the world looked on with approval.
Our ancestors, many of whom lost their lives so that the emancipation of our country could see the light of day, went to their graves in shackles, but with the hope of freedom in their lifetimes.
As we celebrate the day that Nelson Mandela cast his vote alongside millions who were disenfranchised, we need to remember that freedom was not free.
It came at a price.
As we celebrate 18 years of freedom, whatever our differences may be in making the dreams of our forefathers come true, we must always remember the sacrifices so many made so we could be free.
SA has a strain of what can be called “exceptionalism” – a feeling that we are different from the rest of the world.
Nowhere in the world where there has been so much neglect and suffering has there been so much expectation of the remedy of those ills almost overnight. The reality is that we are not different. Our country requires to get down to work to improve the lives of our people just like any other country that has gone through the shame of colonialism.
In 18 years a lot has been done, but hardly enough to reverse 300 years of colonialism. The structural weaknesses of the racist policies did more damage than we care to acknowledge.
It is these structural flaws that made our priorities things that are taken for granted in other parts of the world.
The provision of water to human beings or roofs over the heads of 2 million people may not sound like an achievement to those who seek to underplay the progress of the last 18 years.
Indeed if we lived in a normal society such basics would not have had to be a programme of any government. In SA we have to stop before we are dismissive of these achievements that look basic. We have a lot to celebrate in just becoming a normal society.
Our constitution has laid a good basis for development and nation building. The work of achieving these still lies ahead.
These include the attainment of non-racialism, gender equality and poverty eradication.
These 18 years were also not without difficulties. The transition was not without frustration, especially for the majority of our people who are still economically deprived.
The transformation of the economy is still progressing at a snail’s pace, fomenting the view that things are changing too slowly.
We only have to look at the distribution of wealth on the JSE to understand the story of challenges faced by our democracy. The story can also be told through assessing the development of our land for agricultural produce, and the slow redistribution of land.
These are among things that have made many question the progress we are making in building a democracy that benefits the majority of our people.
Based on this reality, the notion of a second transition has been conceptualised.
It acknowledges that with political freedom being achieved, the task to achieve economic and social freedom remains. The perception of rising crime in our communities and the scourge of violence against women and children are among the red flags that must compel all peace-loving citizens to join hands with the government.
What challenges lie ahead? It is commonly believed that our biggest challenges are poverty and unemployment. These go to the heart of truly freeing our people, because freedom from want and disease, deprivation and hunger is true freedom as envisaged by our constitution and envisioned by our forebears.
While we may differ about strategies, there is no question about our commitment as the ANC to free our people from poverty.
We are acutely aware that poor service delivery and corruption militate against our gains, and we are committed to fight these in our ranks.
A lot has been put in place to uproot corruption and ensure that public representatives do not undermine our people’s expectations in the name of the ANC.
As a ruling party celebrating its centenary this year, we are alive to the fact that we have to take society with us in determining solutions to our problems the same way we mobilised the same society over 100 years to defeat colonialism.
We are aware of the importance of partnerships with business, labour and civil society.
The consolidation of such partnerships is a work in progress and must be nurtured. It has to be expected, in a democracy where debates are important, that there will be robust debate about priorities and where resources should be spent.
Finally, precisely because of the freedom of expression that we have fought for, there will always be false alarms based on either prejudice or ignorance, or even political expediency. The ANC is not about to reverse the gains of its own revolution.
Eighteen years after the first vote, we are working hard every day to make that vote meaningful for our people.
From those 18 years there are lessons to be learnt, many things to celebrate, and there’s a clear road map in the form of a good constitutional foundation and national plan to ensure that all our people are freed from the shackles of poverty.
As we celebrate 18 years of freedom, we have to make freedom count.
l Mthembu is the ANC spokesman.
