A letter to my grandchildren on Freedom Day

• Published date: 26 April 2024
• Publication title: Cape Times, The (Cape Town, South Africa)

I send various letters to you in this year of celebrating three decades of democracy and freedom in South Africa. On April 27, 1994 we participated, for the first time, in democratic elections. On Freedom Day, we commemorate the momentous occasion in our country’s history

Many people have made a lot of sacrifices so that we can have an inclusive, participatory and constitutional democracy. South Africa is a constitutional democracy. This means that our Constitution provides the vision, basic law and guardrails for our journey towards inalienable dignity for all; the healing of political, economic, ecological, societal, physical, psychological, moral, spiritual and historical wounds; reconciling justice and responsible freedom; and equality of worth and dignity and of access to the necessities of life.

Our democracy is a participatory democracy. We can have an impact upon the direction our country takes through participation in elections, public discourse, dialogue and debate about matters relating to the common good.

We also have an inclusive democracy. Nobody is excluded from this democracy based upon factors like colour, culture, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, differently abledness and socio-economic position. Based on factors like these, millions were excluded from decision-making processes in the past.

Thirty years later, we can measure our progress as a democratic society. One word comes to mind – ambivalence. We have indeed improved in some areas. We produced one of the best constitutions in the world. For the most part, we have developed good policies that serve the life that the Constitution envisages. We have established various entities to advance the constitutional vision. These include the Constitutional Court, the South African Human Rights Commission, the Commission for Gender Equality, the Public Protector and a variety of other entities. Over three decades, we have held free and fair local, provincial and national elections.

Unfortunately, in other regards we did not make adequate progress. For example, provisions for necessities like healthcare, housing, education and...