It was on this day, 30 years ago that a vast majority of South Africans, for the first time exercised their right to vote in an election that formally extinguished the racial segregation and oppression of many years of apartheid rule.
The first multi-racial polls saw the erstwhile proscribed African National Congress expectedly secure an overwhelming win to put an end to white minority rule and produce the nation’s first black president.
Almost 20 million South Africans voted, compared with just 3 million white people who voted in the previous in the last general election in 1989.
The day reminds South Africans of the immense sacrifices made by individuals and nations to dismantle the chains of unjust segregation by a selected few. It is a reminder of the monumental effort of their national heroes, particularly Nelson Mandela who spent most of his adulthood behind bars in his quest to free the scourge of apartheid. He is widely acclaimed as a beacon of freedom, not only in South Africa but globally.
It is a day that effectively commemorates the emancipation of South Africans and entrenches their basic human right. It was the day that the South African constitution became the supreme law of the country and placed everyone, regardless of colour, equal before it.
President Cyril Ramaphosa led Saturday’s 30th anniversary Freedom Day celebrations at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
“Few days in the life of our nation can compare to that day, when freedom was born, South Africa changed forever. It signaled a new chapter in the history of our nation, a moment that resonated across Africa and across the world.”
“On that day, the dignity of all the people of South Africa was restored,” Ramaphosa said.
While the ANC has been the ruling party since that indelible day, it no longer enjoys the same reverence and embrace that ushered it into power.
Many have become disillusioned because though, they enjoy basic freedom and human rights, the scars of oppression still linger, especially in the form of economic inequality which successive ANC governments have been unable to bridge over the last three decades. Corruption is still rife and the provision of basic services remains inadequate. The unemployment rate is the highest globally and according to official data, over 16 million South Africans depend on monthly welfare grants for survival.
With very crucial elections around the corner, many believe that South Africans will make a very significant decision about how the path to their desired future will be pivoted.
