Grade 7 learners from Fynnlands Senior Primary show their support and respect to South Africa on Freedom Day, 27 April.
On 27 April peace, unity, preservation and the restoration of human dignity will be remembered by all South Africans as the nation celebrates Freedom Day.
After the 1994 first democratic elections, 27 years later, many young South Africans have forgotten the struggle behind their liberation as the country escaped its troubled apartheid past. However, born-free learners of all races at Fynnlands Senior Primary School proudly celebrated their heritage on the last day of term by simply being together, a basic activity that would otherwise be prohibited in the past. Joash Pather, educator at Fynnlands Senior Primary, said his learners were overjoyed at term’s end and had equally varied stances on what 27 April means to them. “Some learners said the day was about respecting freedom, others the acknowledgment of Nelson Mandela being released from prison.” But perhaps the most noble and unanimous of answers was that “we are all human” on this day.
As the country grapples with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, unemployment, crime, poverty and years of undelivered promises, many South Africans will be asking the question of ‘freedom for who?’ as they try to survive for the next day. Nonhlanzeko Tracey Mokoena, a non-profit organisation leader who works throughout KwaZulu-Natal, agrees. “I doubt our most vulnerable people consider this a holiday. For them getting a little on a daily basis means so much, to the point where other things don’t count. Daily survival is the new ‘struggle’ and we can only pray and hope our country can liberate itself from this kind of oppression.”
