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Freedom Day in South Africa – Why we celebrate the day of elections
Freedom Day celebrates 27 April 1994, the first time every South African citizen was given the right to vote regardless of race.
Photo: iStock
This year, South Africans will celebrate the country’s 27th Freedom Day on Wednesday, 27 April.
The day was first celebrated in 1995.
It’s about more than just having a day off from work mid-week.
Instead, South Africans are encouraged to focus on what freedom means to us.
Here’s what you need to know.
Origin of Freedom Day
The late Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected president when the ANC secured a decisive electoral victory in 1994.
On 27 April 1994, nearly 20 million of the 22.7 million eligible voters made their marks in the country’s first non-racial election.
The ANC won the election with the majority vote – 62.65%.
The National Party (NP) secured 20.39%, followed by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) with 10.54%.
Freedom Front (FF) secured 2.2% of the votes, Democratic Party (DP) 1.7%, Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) 1.2%, and the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) 0.5%.
Three centuries of segregation
Other than commemorating South Africa’s first democratic election, 1994 also marks the end of over 300 years of colonialism, segregation and white minority rule.
It ushers in the “establishment of a new democratic government led by Nelson Mandela and a new state subject to a new constitution”, the newly-elected government said at the time.
Now, nearly three decades later, 27 April still serves as a reminder to all of one very pertinent fact: In order to retain the country’s freedom, we need to remember the values of the Freedom Struggle.
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Get vaccinated on Freedom Day
The South African government said Freedom Day 2022 “comes at a time when South Africa is about to embark on a massive vaccination programme”.
Goverment calls on everyone to “pull together [and to] continue to fight the virus while striving for greater inclusion and social cohesion.”
This year also marks the 150th anniversary of struggle icon and human rights campaigner Charlotte Maxeke.
“She and other selfless women of her generation fought against oppression at a time when such defiance was met with unrelenting force”.
ALSO READ: Freedom day doesn’t really feel free for many people in SA
