Freedom can only be enjoyed when social and economic justice is achieved – IFP

As South Africa commemorates 26 years since its first democratic election day, political parties have taken the opportunity to reflect on the past and look forward towards a challenging future. 

This as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to threaten lives. 

Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) president Velenkosini Hlabisa acknowledged how far the country’s transition into democracy has come, but emphasised that true political freedom will come when the fight for social and economic justice prevails. 

Hlabisa said freedom cannot be enjoyed when too many South Africans go to bed hungry, cannot find employment, struggle to find a way to have economic means, live in squalor and cannot afford justice. 

“Freedom can only be thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated when social and economic justice becomes the new struggle this generation fights for in post-apartheid, post-liberated South Africa,” Hlabisa said. 

“Today, as we retell the heroic stories of not only our leaders who delivered us freedom or the lives that were lost, we must tell the sometimes untold or forgotten stories of the ordinary men and women, who with great determination, sacrifice, persistence and unity fought the heinous crimes and oppressive regime of Apartheid, together. 

“It is with the very same determination, sacrifice, persistence and unity in standing together, that we know as South Africans it is possible to overcome the impossible when we work in unison. Let us all unite, like we know we can, to fight the spread of Covid-19,” he added. 

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