Must freedom come at a cost?

With freedom celebrations all over the country, we’re likely going to reminisce over the contributions of Mandela, MK, ANC, IFP and all those who fought in the struggle; the worthy struggle fought for freedom and won.

In a 30-year milestone of freedom, in an election year, there’s also a temptation to use the celebrations to highlight just how poorly team South Africa has performed.

Yeah, the rand sucks and growth is rubbish but at least we’re free to enjoy what’s left of it. What a thing to celebrate. Saying something like that typically gets you labelled tone-deaf; near wishing for the “good ol’ days”. That shouldn’t be the case.

As if freedom is so great that it doesn’t matter what the cost is. Some people may have that view but no matter how good the burger is, nobody is spending R50k on a McDonald’s order.

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There are plenty of things to actually celebrate freedom wise – it’s lovely to drive between provinces without needing a passport, great to be able to marry who you want and buy petrol on a Sunday. It would just taste better if it wasn’t so damn expensive and that raises the question, why should it be?

It’s not like there is a scientific correlation between freedom and load shedding, freedom and poor GDP growth, freedom and corruption. The one doesn’t need to come with the other. To coin an abused South Africanism, two things can be right at the same time. We can be free and have nice things. In fact, we should be free and have nice things.

It’s difficult to express wanting nice things that we used to have because those things came at a cost. One risks being labelled an apartheid apologist by even mentioning anything positive about the pre-94 economy. Is it accurate? Does a good economy need racism to be good? Probably not. Similarly, does freedom need a ban on good things to exist?

Some may say that freedom itself is a good thing but unfortunately for them, there’s a whole bunch of other things that the Constitution gives us beyond freedom. Things like administrative justice, health, water, education… those things all cost money. Somebody has to pay for that and when we do, we’re indirectly expending out labour to the benefit of others.

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Doesn’t sound like freedom to me but that’s part of the balance to make the entire system work. How else could freedom and equality coexist? It’s not like we can force everybody to value everything equally in a free market and claim it to be free. There will always be a need for balance when you’re trying to set up a complex society with so many interests.

Freedom is a great thing to aspire to. On paper, all you need is to offer freedom and you’ve done a good thing. But freedom on paper is hardly freedom in reality. It’s nice to be allowed to cross into different provinces but when a return bus fare costs a week’s wages, it’s not entirely useful.

It’s still useful to those who can afford to enjoy it. But when you start creating indirect holds on freedom, it becomes reminiscent of days gone by, just with different ways to categorise those worthy of their freedoms.

In other words, we’re free but wouldn’t that freedom taste so much better if it didn’t cost the earth to most? It could be better and I dare say that we deserve better. I’d go further. It’s not racist nor nostalgic for a racist era or regime to want better.

Happy Freedom Day South Africa.

Enjoy Freedom Day to those who can afford it.

Enjoy something else to those who can’t.