Photograph — National Geographic

Every year on April 27, South Africa remembers its journey from colonialism and white minority domination to political and social liberation by commemorating Freedom Day. For South Africans, Freedom Day symbolises the day that their dignity was restored after a prolonged history of colonial oppression and apartheid. In 1994, the first democratic elections were conducted following which Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s president.

Historically, South Africa was able to eventually realise Freedom Day with the formation of the current ruling party in 1912 – the African National Congress, (formerly known as the South African Native National Congress). The activities and struggles of the ANC since its inception, which revolved around improving the conditions of the Black people, helped to eradicate the issues of racial inequality that were prevalent in South Africa at the time.

Today, Freedom Day celebrations will be led by the present day front man for the ANC and South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma in Giyani, Limpopo. However, it appears South Africans are in no mood to celebrate as they no longer harbor the same feelings for the political party as they did in the past, especially as concerns Zuma himself and the current administration.

In a brazen show of dissatisfaction, rather than marching to celebrate the day when South Africa bid goodbye to racism and inequality, hundreds of South Africans prominently of the Zuma Must Fall Movement are marching in Cape Town and Johannesburg to call for President Zuma’s resignation.

According to a lot of South Africans, Zuma and the ANC are guilty of dominating the state of politics in the country, misappropriating government funds while citizens battle with poverty and unemployment and poor institutional and infrastructural opportunities and just generally limiting and inhibiting the vision of equality and prosperity that South Africans once shared. Also, Zuma’s administration has come under a lot of criticism over the present stagnant economic situation in the country.

In a nutshell, economic freedom – which is ultimately the true kind of freedom – is still a dream for majority of South Africans. Additionally, the reality remains that South Africa is still being ruled by a ‘minority government’ in form of the ANC, which is in contrast to the pledge that was made to the country on April 27, 1994. Apparently, Freedom Day has come to mean ‘African National Congress Day’ and South Africans are not having it.

The frustrations being expressed this year are not the first of their kind, as last year a rise in the rates of unemployment and poverty ignited xenophobic violence in South Africa, and in 2011 Freedom Day was characterised by calls to address issues of corruption and discrimination in the country. To this end, the different sectors in South Africa’s economy continue witness a spate of protests involving students, workers, and unions, with the most recent being a threat to forcibly remove Zuma from office.

Freedom Day certainly holds a deep historical significance for South Africa, but today, South Africans insist that, in reality, there is no freedom if they are poor, unemployed, oppressed, plagued by crime and violence and demoralised.

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