Today, Freedom Day, marks 29 years of democracy in South Africa, with the first democratic election having taken place this day in 1994.
It is probably one of the few of our very many public holidays that truly deserves to be celebrated.
But now, looking back over almost three decades, one cannot help but ask, “What has happened to the dream of the man, Nelson Mandela, who orchestrated our road to freedom?”
His dream was to create a democratic, peaceful rainbow nation. He wanted to be part of a nation where all races could be reconciled. He focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality.
But today still-vast differences in class and an internal war within our so-called unified nation is still very evident. So how free are we really?
If we are free, why is the crime rate at its highest ever? Why is the cost of living higher than ever before? Petrol is unaffordable, taxes are skyrocketing, decent medical care is only for the truly gilded, proper schooling has taken a back seat, not to mention the whole Eskom saga, all this while government coffers are being plundered. I shudder to think what Madiba would say about our rainbow nation now.
