Twenty-nine years after the dawn of democracy, we must ask: “What does this watershed moment in our history mean for ordinary South Africans?”
Today, as things stand in the country, one finds little to celebrate. Whatever great possibilities we have and the bright future that beckoned in the early 1990s has become the national government’s blind spot. The hope that things will change for the better is disappearing and being replaced by an all-pervasive sense of despondency and hopelessness due to broken promises. This is further illustrated by the fact that while 65.9% of eligible voters registered for the 2019 elections, only 49% of voters went out to vote.
Every day, South Africans face numerous challenges such as crime, unemployment, inequality, prejudice, and gender-based violence. So, what will those who have lost their loved ones, jobs, livelihoods and businesses celebrate on Freedom Day?
Continued service delivery failures due to corruption and institutional deficiencies have resulted in extreme poverty and dire living conditions. Streets flow with sewage; there is an increase in dumping sites due to a lack of proper regular refuse removal, and roads are riddled with potholes.
At this moment, we must consider whether the freedom articulated in our Bill of Rights finds expression in the daily lives of our people. For example, the ongoing blackouts experienced across the country are negatively impacting investment opportunities in Gauteng, yet there is no concrete plan from Premier Panyaza Lesufi and his executive to free the province from the current electricity crisis. Furthermore, the continuous loadshedding negatively affects substations, water reservoirs and pumping stations, leaving many people without water for days.
Despite the rising unemployment rate in Gauteng, particularly among our youth, Lesufi’s office fails to meet its job creation targets set out in the Growing Gauteng Together 2030 policy document. As part of the Township Economy Revitalisation plans, 80,000 jobs were meant to be created through the infill residential and commercial development programmes, but only 14 have been created so far.
Failure to meet these targets is worrying as Gauteng currently has a high unemployment rate, which will likely grow as the province attracts migrants from all over the country and continent. High unemployment, alongside increasing inequality, is a recipe for social unrest.
The issue of poverty and unemployment is worsened by the many schools in Gauteng that are in terrible condition, resulting in thousands of learners being lost in the system. Many have dropped out of school, while others have been moved to schools with better resources to deliver quality education.
Funds are needed to provide adequate much-needed infrastructure at our schools, such as eradicating asbestos schools, maintaining the dilapidated and ageing school infrastructure, and providing necessary resources like sporting facilities, science laboratories and libraries.
Our healthcare system is also on the brink of collapse and is failing to render services to our people. The Gauteng department of health constantly fails to adhere to the supply chain management processes. The Auditor-General picked up irregularities with the tender process for an aeromedical service awarded in February last year. The department's inefficiency is negatively impacting the lives of patients who cannot afford private healthcare.
Then there are the ever-increasing incidents of violent crime in the province, particularly towards the most vulnerable members of our society. SA has the highest number of cases of violence against women in the world. There were 243 children and 855 women who were murdered in SA between April and June 2022. Recently, the bodies of children aged five and six were found mutilated in Soweto a day after being reported missing. In Gauteng, there appears to be no political will to properly manage crime fighting, while Bheki Cele is providing little direction or leadership at the national level.
As citizens of this beautiful country, we must be reminded that our freedom, often taken for granted, was not free. This hard-won victory should remind those mandated by the various prescripts to do the right thing.
As we gear up for next year’s elections, we must consider what a vote means to a young, unemployed youth with no education, who comes from a family where the only income comes from a grant, and who lives in a house with no electricity or other essential services. While this youth may live in despair, they must know that a vote is the key to freedom.
This Freedom Day, I urge all South Africans to vote wisely to protect their freedom gains by voting out the ANC.
• Solly Msimanga MPL, DA Gauteng leader of the official opposition
SOLLY MSIMANGA | Freedom Day celebrations a farce amid poverty quagmire, hopelessness
A better life still eludes our people
Image: Alon Skuy
Twenty-nine years after the dawn of democracy, we must ask: “What does this watershed moment in our history mean for ordinary South Africans?”
Today, as things stand in the country, one finds little to celebrate. Whatever great possibilities we have and the bright future that beckoned in the early 1990s has become the national government’s blind spot. The hope that things will change for the better is disappearing and being replaced by an all-pervasive sense of despondency and hopelessness due to broken promises. This is further illustrated by the fact that while 65.9% of eligible voters registered for the 2019 elections, only 49% of voters went out to vote.
Every day, South Africans face numerous challenges such as crime, unemployment, inequality, prejudice, and gender-based violence. So, what will those who have lost their loved ones, jobs, livelihoods and businesses celebrate on Freedom Day?
Continued service delivery failures due to corruption and institutional deficiencies have resulted in extreme poverty and dire living conditions. Streets flow with sewage; there is an increase in dumping sites due to a lack of proper regular refuse removal, and roads are riddled with potholes.
At this moment, we must consider whether the freedom articulated in our Bill of Rights finds expression in the daily lives of our people. For example, the ongoing blackouts experienced across the country are negatively impacting investment opportunities in Gauteng, yet there is no concrete plan from Premier Panyaza Lesufi and his executive to free the province from the current electricity crisis. Furthermore, the continuous loadshedding negatively affects substations, water reservoirs and pumping stations, leaving many people without water for days.
Despite the rising unemployment rate in Gauteng, particularly among our youth, Lesufi’s office fails to meet its job creation targets set out in the Growing Gauteng Together 2030 policy document. As part of the Township Economy Revitalisation plans, 80,000 jobs were meant to be created through the infill residential and commercial development programmes, but only 14 have been created so far.
Failure to meet these targets is worrying as Gauteng currently has a high unemployment rate, which will likely grow as the province attracts migrants from all over the country and continent. High unemployment, alongside increasing inequality, is a recipe for social unrest.
The issue of poverty and unemployment is worsened by the many schools in Gauteng that are in terrible condition, resulting in thousands of learners being lost in the system. Many have dropped out of school, while others have been moved to schools with better resources to deliver quality education.
Funds are needed to provide adequate much-needed infrastructure at our schools, such as eradicating asbestos schools, maintaining the dilapidated and ageing school infrastructure, and providing necessary resources like sporting facilities, science laboratories and libraries.
Our healthcare system is also on the brink of collapse and is failing to render services to our people. The Gauteng department of health constantly fails to adhere to the supply chain management processes. The Auditor-General picked up irregularities with the tender process for an aeromedical service awarded in February last year. The department's inefficiency is negatively impacting the lives of patients who cannot afford private healthcare.
Then there are the ever-increasing incidents of violent crime in the province, particularly towards the most vulnerable members of our society. SA has the highest number of cases of violence against women in the world. There were 243 children and 855 women who were murdered in SA between April and June 2022. Recently, the bodies of children aged five and six were found mutilated in Soweto a day after being reported missing. In Gauteng, there appears to be no political will to properly manage crime fighting, while Bheki Cele is providing little direction or leadership at the national level.
As citizens of this beautiful country, we must be reminded that our freedom, often taken for granted, was not free. This hard-won victory should remind those mandated by the various prescripts to do the right thing.
As we gear up for next year’s elections, we must consider what a vote means to a young, unemployed youth with no education, who comes from a family where the only income comes from a grant, and who lives in a house with no electricity or other essential services. While this youth may live in despair, they must know that a vote is the key to freedom.
This Freedom Day, I urge all South Africans to vote wisely to protect their freedom gains by voting out the ANC.
• Solly Msimanga MPL, DA Gauteng leader of the official opposition
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