April 27 in South Africa is Freedom Day. A day we are proud of due to the realisation of universal suffrage.
It was a confirmation of victory over the apartheid government and the ushering-in of freedom.
This day has become an important one to South Africa as it is allows the populace to reflect on the advances and milestones made towards the realisation of freedom.
The theme for Freedom Day this year is “The year of OR Tambo: together deepening democracy and building safer and crime-free communities”.
Our constitution lauds fundamental freedoms, especially freedom of association, expression and assembly.
Reflecting on our 23 years of democracy, these rights have been severely breached.
We have seen great intolerance, with impunity, for the operations of associations in South Africa, making the environment for Civil Society Organisation (CSO) operations restrictive and hostile, especially those that raise concerns about corruption, maladministration and accountability.
Government has ended up calling them foreign agents for regime change because of the nature of the functions they fulfil.
South Africa distanced itself from the practical recommendations for the creation and maintenance of a safe and enabling environment for CSOs based on good practices and lessons learnt.
The recommendations went as far the special rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders elaborating on five ingredients that were an example of good practice and would optimise CSO transformative potential.
These are: a robust legal framework with international standards that protect public freedoms and effective access to justice; a political environment conducive to CSO functioning; participation of CSOs in decision-making; access to information and long-term support for CSO activisms.
These tenements are critical in the current political and economic climate in South Africa. The issue of state capture is no longer just a redundant hypothesis but a reality that should force us all to be concerned.
There have been numerous mysterious killings and murders directly associated with political intolerance.
The service delivery protests that have consumed the country due to the state's lack of delivery of fundamental public goods is not justifiable in a country with a capable budgetary contingency.
The death of young people because of unroadworthy cars and potholes raises a lot of concerns about the government's ability to bring about radical change, and the persistent interference with constitution-building institutions is injustice and differs very slightly from the apartheid regime.
The reprisals and persecutions of human rights defenders, including state officials, owing to a refusal to validate corruption is unconstitutional and triggers memories of the dark period of impunity under the apartheid government.
The censorship upon the freedom of expression for journalists to operate freely in providing the public with information obliterates transparency.
On this Freedom Day we need to find points of commonality and commit ourselves to standing up against corruption.
South Africa belongs to all those who live in it.
So should freedom.