{"id":291,"date":"2021-04-27T06:50:22","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T06:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/networklivenews.com\/?p=291"},"modified":"2021-04-27T06:50:24","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T06:50:24","slug":"freedom-day-opinion-piece-27-years-later-same-system-tactics-nothing-has-changed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/networklivenews.com\/?p=291","title":{"rendered":"Freedom day Opinion piece: 27 years later, same system &#038; tactics. Nothing has changed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"http:\/\/networklivenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/12dfd394-17ac-4b0e-8b31-a8e0e7421a45.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-292\" srcset=\"https:\/\/networklivenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/12dfd394-17ac-4b0e-8b31-a8e0e7421a45.jpg 400w, https:\/\/networklivenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/12dfd394-17ac-4b0e-8b31-a8e0e7421a45-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/networklivenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/12dfd394-17ac-4b0e-8b31-a8e0e7421a45-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption>South African National flag <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Article by: Tebogo Edwin Lesoro <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa held its first\ndemocratic elections in 1994, ending a cruel era of Apartheid. The world\nthought South Africa would smile again, however it has been over 20 years of democracy\nyet people are still oppressed. Racism is still experienced, unequal\ndistribution of resources still exists and wealth is just a hearsay to the\nmajority of South Africans. The tales of students protests aren\u2019t different\nfrom those of two decades ago and the police of this same democratic era still\nuse live ammunition during protests. One can say this is a Dejavu or better\nyet, it\u2019s like we are watching a movie repeat with a much better picture and\nvideo quality. We can see things clearly now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This leaves me asking myself\nquestions: (1) Whether The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) failed to\nresolve the conflict between South Africans. (2) Whether the freedom charter\nwas drafted and adopted for self-serving purposes or not. The Freedom Charter\nis adamant that \u201cThe doors of Learning shall be opened to all\u201d and that \u201ceducation\nshall be free\u201d yet this is not the case. The process of adopting this Freedom Charter\nwas seemingly unfruitful, as it looks like it is just a document shaped to keep\nstudents silent and give them false hope. The government talks about equal\ndistribution of resources\/ wealth and equal opportunities, yet what I see is the\nrich continuing to get richer and the poor are getting poorer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let me refresh your memory a\nbit;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Truth and Reconciliation\nCommission was created after the end of Apartheid under the Promotion of\nNational Unity and Reconciliation Act No 34 of 1995. The TRC was considered an\nintegral component of the transition to full and free democracy in South\nAfrica. Has the TRC worked? You be the Judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Twenty years after the end of\napartheid, racism still thrives in the rainbow nation of South Africa. Despite\nmany policies aimed at redressing the bitter legacy of Apartheid. Four students\nat the University of the Free State made a racist video that created an\ninternational uproar in 2008, while it was reported during the same year in\nApril that black students at the University of Johannesburg had allegedly been\nassaulted by their white counterpart at the university bar. A documentary\ncalled luister was released on the 20<sup>th<\/sup> of August in 2015 which\nshowed how black students were discriminated in the Stellenbosch University. A woman\ncalled Penny Sparrow called black people monkeys in January 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question remains, has the\nTRC failed to resolve the conflict between South Africans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parallels could be drawn\nbetween the 12<sup>th<\/sup> of August 1946,where African mine workers strike was\nled by Mr John Beaver (JB) Marks, a leader of the African mine workers union\n(AMWU) and the 2012 mine workers strike led by the president of&nbsp; Association of Mine workers and Construction\nUnion (AMCU), Joseph Mathunjwa. A strike was forcibly suppressed by the\ngovernment during the strike of about 60 000 mine workers in 1946. According to\n1946 official figures, 9 workers were killed while 1 248 were injured. 34 mine\nworkers were killed during the 2012 mine workers wage strike. The Freedom\nCharter states that people shall share their country&#8217;s wealth but poor miners\ndied wanting a share of what belonged to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question remains, would\nwe ever see equal share of resources and wealth or will the rich get richer and\nthe poor become poorer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students from numerous\nschools in Soweto began to protest in the streets for better education system\nin 1976. It is estimated that 20 000 students took part in the protest. They\nwere met with fierce police brutality. In 2015 a campaign called Fees must fall\nstarted. Students from different universities across the country started protests,\ncalling for the reduction of university fees and free education, just like the\nstudents of 1976, they were also met with fierce police brutality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question remains, did\nthey mean it in the Freedom Charter when they said \u201cThe doors of Learning shall\nbe opened to all\u201d and that \u201cEducation shall be free\u201d. Was that just a way of\nkeeping them silent??? That is the question yet to be answered. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article by: Tebogo Edwin Lesoro South Africa held its first democratic elections in 1994, ending a cruel era of Apartheid. The world thought South Africa would smile again, however it has been over 20 years of democracy yet people are still oppressed. Racism is still experienced, unequal distribution of resources still exists and wealth is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Freedom day Opinion piece: 27 years later, same system &amp; tactics. 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