As a South African citizen, you’ve probably heard politicians and civil society leaders use the word “freedom” in their speeches about a public issue. For many years, the lack of freedom during apartheid was a rallying point for leaders who opposed racial discrimination. Unfortunately, the end of apartheid and the dawn of non-racial democracy under a new Constitution has not fully delivered on the promise of freedom anti-apartheid leaders used against the government. Even today, nearly thirty years after the first democratic election, freedom is under threat from a state that discriminates on the basis of race and wants to control life in South Africa.
The failures of this approach are all around us.
Is freedom advancing or retreating in South Africa? Well, it’s the job of ordinary South Africans to fight for its advance! Too many millions, even billions of people live without freedom longing for it, and too many millions, even billions of people live with freedom without truly appreciating it.
Here are 5 quickfire reasons to cherish and stand up for freedom!
For many people, freedom is what gives our lives meaning. For other, freedom is the ability to pursue purpose in our lives. Freedom allows us to make sense of who we are as individuals and it provide us with the choices that can make things both better and worse. We should cherish freedom. It isn’t something that has come cheaply to humanity at any moment in history. And it isn’t something we must let go because standing up for it might just be a bit of a hassle.
