Outside Mzolis. Photo by Wizzy (Wikipedia handle) under CC ASA 2.5.
30 April 2014
While celebrations took place all over the country this week, some young people in Cape Town’s townships chose to spend Freedom Day another way.
On Monday, Freedom Day, people had different ways to celebrate the day. Some people went to prayer services, some went on picnics and others had a normal day.
But in party hot spots like Mzoli’s Place and ACE Groova park in Khayelitsha the scene was different.
Miranda Sonwabo, 19, who was at Mzoli’s, said she didn’t understand why people should celebrate the day because they were not free.
“Yes, we are free from apartheid, but we are not free from poverty. And we are still slaves for white people. Still today most white people are better than blacks. So I’d rather drink and celebrate being with my friends,” she said.
Shakur Stevens, 24, from Mowbray who was also at Mzoli’s, said that the day was important to him because it indicated unity and change.
“Look at us now, we are able to party together with no fights. There is no racial division and this is where we should appreciate our country and embrace Ubuntu,” said Stevens.
In both places political parties, mainly the DA, ANC and EFF, were campaigning while partying and offering beverages.
Sinazo Mkonto, 29, from Khayelitsha, who was at Ace said that the freedom that people were celebrating did not really exist. “Twenty years of democracy means nothing to me, I still have to struggle to get a job. I have a degree in civil engineering and I have no job. It’s been three years now. Instead, I work at a restaurant. And yet I am told to celebrate a day that gave the minority more freedom. I know South Africa is better than other countries but that doesn’t mean some of us are no longer bitter,” she said.
An old man was standing in his yard near Mzoli’s Place watching as the people were having fun and the political parties were singing their songs.
He said that the youth of today were confused and did not appreciate the struggle their fathers had fought so that they could have a nice life. “Look at them. They getting drunk and some of them they do not even know what this day means. They just like the fact that its a public holiday and for them it means more time to party.” He said he wished young people could be taught about history and celebrate the lives of those who were in the struggle by paying respect to them, not drinking.
An ANC member who did not want to be named said that it was time people learned from the past and tried to make things better. “We came a long way and we need to celebrate it. I do not judge those who drink on this day because if they feel that is how they can express their freedom then let them do so”, she said.