Freedom is more than the right to vote and the repealing of laws

THE commemoration of 28 years of freedom in our country gives us an opportunity to reflect and draw a perspective of what the future would have looked like, especially for the previously disadvantaged masses.

This year also marks the ANC’s 55th National Congress, a precursor to the national elections in 2024.

While it is important to acknowledge our sovereignty by exercising our own domestic obligations as a country, thought must be given to the fact that our sovereignty is also fragile, in terms of how our freedom might be weakened by corruption and not prioritising the process of renewal and social compact.

A thorough national introspection is needed among all South Africans to reflect on the past, and present and map a collective way that will be suitable for the country’s future survival because, as the cliché goes, our past will shape our future.

It is unfortunate that we find ourselves as a nation in this present situation.

The seeds sown in the past promised to break the shackles of apartheid and colonialism for us to live in a prosperous, non-racial and non-sexist society in which everyone lives in harmony, united in our diversity, living in agreement that the wealth of the country is shared among its citizens.

This encompassed all the prospects for the kind of South Africa that people wished to live in.

All the desirable futures were well pronounced and documented in the Freedom Charter and the Constitution in the past, but quoting these documents today is like trying to touch a mirage that is shining on the horizon.

Our people have been sold a dummy – the future we anticipated as a nation has not yet been realised.

Freedom is more than the right to vote and the repealing of unjust laws.

Today, the right to vote is like an empty shell. In 1994, many people were enthusiastic about voting, but if we look at the public mood today, the fallacy of voting with its democratic ideals and anticipated trappings has not solved the problems of inequality and poverty.

For people to be free, they need land. The government must fast-track land redistribution, not only by expropriating land but by also prioritising post-settlement support because this will complete the land reform process and speed up wealth creation.

Though the government is doing something, more impetus and efficiency is needed to speed up the process of land reform, especially land tenure reform, to preserve the rights of farm dwellers and labour tenants.

The Constitution of the Republic says that a person or community whose tenure of land is legally insecure as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practice is entitled to the extent provided by an act of Parliament, either to tenure that is legally secure or to comparable redress.

Furthermore, the Extension of Security of Tenure Amendment Act 2 of 2018 has significantly helped to resolve tenure rights disputes between farmers and farm dwellers.

The amendment of the act closed the loopholes it had contained.

The description of the occupier of the land was too broadly defined, and it was susceptible to harmful interpretations.

The act categorised some farm dwellers as the main or primary occupiers, and others, such as wives and children, as secondary occupiers. But categorising them as such opened them up to a degree of vulnerability, which led to some unwarranted evictions.

A pat on the back goes to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development for amending the act because it has strengthened the initial act, enabling it to put an end to the arbitrary evictions that take place on some farms.

Novukela is a graduate from the University of Fort Hare and Rhodes University in Communications and Journalism, respectively. She is an intern in Communications at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and writes in her personal capacity.