DEAR Editor;
I just so happened to have made a statement which was recently published, in which I indicated that I wouldn’t be celebrating Freedom Day.
This opinion piece has now served as the perfect platform to further elaborate why I feel how I feel, and why it is I did not observe this so-called Freedom Day.
If we say we are free, what is it that we are free from?
Are we free from socio-economic injustices?
Are we free from unhealthy relationships with first world countries?
If the answers to all these questions are a resounding no, which in my opinion they are, then what exactly is it that we are free from?
Are we free from the economic development hindering forces of maladministration and incompetent governance?
Are we free from the exploitation of our natural resources by overseas entities?
No, we are not free.
We are still living in shacks, RDP housing and squatter camps.
We are still in the mountains we were pushed to, through policies like the Urban Areas Act of 1923 and the Black Citizenship Homeland Act of 1970.
There has been no recent legislature to reverse the effects of these policies that were introduced to actively alienate blacks from the cities and suburbs.
No efforts to re-diversify our communities, thus we are still without land, and trust me there is no freedom without land ownership.
Overseas entities yield billions of dollars through our natural resources while the majority of our people need social grants to survive, and yet we have the nerve to call ourselves free.
We are not free, we are still far from it.
To get there we have to stop tip-toeing around the real issues we face as a country.
To get there, we have to adopt a sense of patriotism.
South Africa still has the potential to be a global powerhouse, and if we end up not realising this potential, let it not be because of a lack of effort.
My people wake up and unite, we are not free!
PHAKAMANI MBILI
HAVE YOUR SAY
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