Latest news with #TheFreedomCharter
Eyewitness News
an hour ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Freedom Charter 70 years on: Land reform, wealth distribution still lagging, says ANC
JOHANNESBURG – The African National Congress (ANC) believes the democratic government has achieved the majority of ideals in the Freedom Charter, except for land reform and economic transformation. The African National Congress (ANC) has governed the country since the turn of democracy in 1994. On Thursday, the party is holding a commemorative event at the Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, Soweto, where the Freedom Charter was adopted during the Congress of the People 70 years ago. ALSO READ: * Some Kliptown residents say govt has fallen short of Freedom Charter ideals * Heritage sites associated with Freedom Charter neglected The Freedom Charter was drawn up as a blueprint for what a democratic South Africa should look like. A non-racial state, where everyone's vote counts and citizens share in the country's wealth. The ANC's deputy secretary general, Nomvula Mokonyane, says it has been partly achieved. 'We have touched every clause of the Freedom Charter, boldly we can say South Africans are the beneficiaries of all the clauses, albeit not everything has been touched. The most stubborn is the clause that talks about the economy and the sharing of the wealth.' Mokonyane says the country's land restitution programme has not been successful, which is why the Expropriation Act was recently signed into law.
IOL News
14 hours ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Reflecting on 70 years of the Freedom Charter: a journey towards equality
A copy of The Freedom Charter, signed in 1960 by, among others, Chief Albert Luthuli. Image: Cara Viereckl/African News Agency(ANA) SEVENTY years ago, on June 26, 1955, the Freedom Charter was adopted at the Congress of the People in Kliptown. It followed Professor ZK Matthews' suggestion in 1953 to hold a "national convention" to formulate "a Freedom Charter for the democratic South Africa of the future". While not produced by the ANC, it was closely associated with the ANC. People from different walks of life were asked what kind of South Africa they wished to live in, as an alternative to the horrors of apartheid. Their responses were stitched together to create the Freedom Charter. After 1960, with the banning of the African National Congress (ANC) and other political movements and the suppression of protest, the Freedom Charter went out of view. It reappeared when resistance to apartheid began to grow again. In 1980, the Sunday Post published the Freedom Charter and an article on its history. The 1981 Anti-Republic Day movement that protested the racist white republic promoted the Freedom Charter as the basis for a democratic people's republic. The preamble of the Freedom Charter written on the holding cell that the Rivonia Trialists were kept at the Palace of Justice. Image: Masi Losi/African News Agency (ANA) Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading On its 30th anniversary in 1985, it was widely promoted. Many anti-apartheid organisations adopted the Freedom Charter as their manifesto. The Freedom Charter responded to white minority rule, segregation, and the white monopoly of the land, mines and economy, of professional and well-paying jobs and of educational opportunities. It stated that South Africa belonged "to all who live in it, black and white", based "on the will of all the people". It declared that "the people shall govern", that "all national groups shall have equal rights" and all were to "enjoy equal human rights" and "be equal before the law". It called for everyone to "share in the country's wealth", for "the land (to) be shared among those who work it" and for all to have "work and security" and be treated equitably. There was a pledge to ensure "houses, security and comfort" and provide food security and health care. Recognising the importance of education and knowledge, there was a commitment to open "the doors of learning and of culture", ensure "free, compulsory, universal and equal" education for all and sport and recreation opportunities for everyone. Instead of apartheid's militarism, hostility to neighbouring countries and pariah status, the Freedom Charter sought "peace and friendship", "self-determination for all" and peaceful relations with other countries. Seventy years after the Freedom Charter was born and 30 years into democracy, South Africa is a very different and better society, especially for black and women South Africans. Unfortunately, despite strong support and the opportunity to fundamentally remake our country and achieve the Freedom Charter's goals, the ANC squandered the opportunity. Rather than the people governing, popular participation and a grassroots democracy, we have rule by elites focused on their interests and aloof from the people. ANC policies have done little to eliminate inequality and poverty, redistribute land, create decent jobs and ensure effective social services. We are a long way from everyone sharing in South Africa's wealth, the land being shared equitably and 'work and security' for all. Our "wealthiest 10% owns 85% of all household wealth"; the "wealthiest 0.1% own 25% of it". The "wealthiest 3 500 people own more than the most impoverished 32 million. Nowhere else do so few own so much. And there are few other places where that privilege is protected so fiercely to the detriment of the impoverished". Despite considerable investment in education, the children of the impoverished largely end up in the same position as their parents. There are probably less opportunities in black communities and for black youth to play sport today than under the non-racial sports movement of the 1980s. Chauvinists use identity politics to define who is a South African, African, and black in ever more narrow terms. By freezing identities along racial lines, they compromise building a non-racial society in which "race" eventually does not matter. In the international arena, South Africa has won admiration for its stand on the Israeli genocide in Palestine. But commitment to self-determination for all and "peace and friendship" has been inconsistent. We allow coal exports to Israel and are muted on some issues because of material interests. The Freedom Charter is a radical national-democratic manifesto. Neither a liberal reformist nor a socialist programme, it was a positive response to racial and national oppression. Its goal was a non-racial democracy and a unitary national democratic state. For some, the Freedom Charter represents their goals in full. If there has been some progress towards achieving those goal, there is some way to go to achieve what the ANC calls the "national democratic revolution". For others, the Freedom Charter represents their minimum goals. They seek to extend and deepen those goals to build a socialist South Africa that ends the rule by the wealthy and ensures greater equality. Manifestos are important but guarantee nothing. It is struggles waged by mass organisations, the conditions under which they occur, the nature of leadership, and whether there is working class leadership that determines the outcomes of freedom struggles. South Africa in 2025 is a shamefully unequal, unjust and unstable society. The impoverished grind out an existence, while the rich and middle classes flaunt their wealth and fortify themselves behind electric-fences and ubiquitous security companies. It cries out for a social movement with an ethical and capable leadership that is committed to sustainable economic development, eliminating inequality and impoverishment, ensuring fair and just treatment for all and promoting greater participation and democracy. Professor Saleem Badat Image: Supplied Saleem Badat is Research Professor in the Department of History at the University of Free State and the former vice-chancellor of the university currently called Rhodes. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. THE POST
