Leaders of Moshoeshoe call for economic freedom during Freedom Day celebrations

As SA marked the 30th anniversary of the first democratic elections on April 27, the Moshoeshoe Section, Katlehong, community reflected on the progress made during the Freedom Day commemoration at De Bruyn Primary School.

On April 27, 1994, SA held its first democratic elections, ending the apartheid regime’s tenure and paving the way for an equal, representative and non-racial nation.

The Moshoeshoe community celebrated the day with an outlook on alternative economic opportunities to address the high unemployment rate, especially among the youth.

Attended by scores of young and old residents and several businesses, the event aimed to ignite lokshin entrepreneurship and provide businesses with a marketing platform.

Businesses and stakeholders at the event included a local beauty and cosmetics company, Inuka, Kasie FM, Total, Standard Bank, the Umdeni Community Forum (UCF), Thuso Ma Afrika and the Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation.

The chairperson of the Moshoeshoe Section community, Moeti Molai, said they wanted to commemorate Freedom Day differently, citing that South Africans are free but still want economic freedom.

“We need economic freedom, so we included businesses. We want people to access information and empower themselves through businesses here today. We want to be free economically because it has been 30 years, but we do not see any economic improvement, especially for black people,” said Molai.

He said SA’s current economic state only benefits the minority while the large majority of black people get left in the cold.

“We will eventually get there because we are heading to elections. We can only hope for the best. Maybe after the elections, someone can come up with better policies or the ruling party can fix their mistakes so we can be on the same level economically,” Molai said.

Taung ‘Soweto’ Kunyane from UCF said the country had good years. The rainbow nation philosophy was established nicely, to the extent that you could identify yourself as part of it, and even white people associated with it.

However, he said seeing the devastation the government has put its people through has led to another break in society and the races that formed this democracy, including Indians, whites and Boere.

“Other races look down on us because they think we have degraded the country’s development post-1994. It is sad to see the people we elected to represent us and make decisions on our behalf fail. It creates an environment where people do not trust the government.”

He called on leaders to be accountable and responsible for the lives of the people they lead.

Senior citizens Magdeline Senyatsi (84) and Aletta Phukwile-Motaung (76) were born and raised in Katlehong under the apartheid regime. They said that despite the challenges, they are happy they are still alive and have passed on their knowledge to their children.

“What concerns me is that the level of care we receive as elderly people is not up to standard. We are excluded from many things, even though we fought for all these things. I am not bad-mouthing the government, but we see them prioritise the youth over the people who fought for freedom,” said Senyatsi.