EDITORIAL: Empty freedom
The African National Congress (ANC) has lost its majority rule in South Africa. Or, as its secretary-general Fikile Mbalula put it yesterday, they got a hiding.
This result proved many things, chief of which is that the party’s selling point of having ended the apartheid system of white minority rule 30 years ago is no longer accepted in a voting market desperate for socioeconomic freedom.
That narrative, no matter how many times it’s repackaged and re-sold to a fatigued audience, cannot wish away today’s realities in South Africa. The country remains one of the most unequal societies in the world, with 32% of the populace unemployed, along with soaring levels of serious crime such as daylight assassinations. Access to water has become a luxury in parts of the country, while electricity has become a rare commodity.
Like in Namibia, the liberation struggle has brought about democracy and political freedom in South Africa. Once that was achieved, liberators took a nap at the steering wheel. They rested on their laurels because they thought political freedom was enough currency to secure votes for eternity. But people don’t eat freedom of expression, as much as it is a cardinal personal liberty.
When late president Hage Geingob remarked that “people do not eat constitutions”, he was castigated. Yet, this is the exact point he was making – that freedoms must translate into improved livelihoods for our people. The ANC learnt the hard way. Others in the region must watch these developments closely and avoid walking the path of self-destruction and obliteration.
This result proved many things, chief of which is that the party’s selling point of having ended the apartheid system of white minority rule 30 years ago is no longer accepted in a voting market desperate for socioeconomic freedom.
That narrative, no matter how many times it’s repackaged and re-sold to a fatigued audience, cannot wish away today’s realities in South Africa. The country remains one of the most unequal societies in the world, with 32% of the populace unemployed, along with soaring levels of serious crime such as daylight assassinations. Access to water has become a luxury in parts of the country, while electricity has become a rare commodity.
Like in Namibia, the liberation struggle has brought about democracy and political freedom in South Africa. Once that was achieved, liberators took a nap at the steering wheel. They rested on their laurels because they thought political freedom was enough currency to secure votes for eternity. But people don’t eat freedom of expression, as much as it is a cardinal personal liberty.
When late president Hage Geingob remarked that “people do not eat constitutions”, he was castigated. Yet, this is the exact point he was making – that freedoms must translate into improved livelihoods for our people. The ANC learnt the hard way. Others in the region must watch these developments closely and avoid walking the path of self-destruction and obliteration.
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