Set “free” Freedom Day South Africa
Set “free” Freedom Day South Africa
As the dust settles and the fires fade, the fear and the scars still linger. The definition of these inhumane acts of terror is known to all as acts of ‘Xenophobia’ but what it actually communicates is a sense of hatred and disregard for our history as South Africans. We stood tall with pride and honour when the legendary Tata Madiba placed his ballot paper in that voting box more than 2 decades ago and yet we paid witness to the screams and the shouts of fellow Africans over the past two weeks as we behaved like monsters. What would Madiba say or do if he were here to pay witness to these acts of terror? We can only describe it as disappointing an elder and bringing shame to our once so-called ‘united nation’…If nothing else we should be disgraced to call ourselves South Africans.
Our GoRhino family is situated in the heart of Durban Central and we paid witness to the acts of terror to fellow Africans and foreigners, who at most were being punished for trying to make a living. We were both saddened and appalled by our fellow South Africans and we made an effort to communicate with our team in this time of national uproar, creating awareness that we did not support these acts of terror. The march for peace took place last week and it seemed like the back bite to South Africans for participating in this march was taken negatively by the so called South African terrorists that read into the King’s words to literally.
“Peace, unity, the preservation and the restoration of human dignity hallmarks Freedom Day celebrations on the 27th of April of each year.” (Source: UKZN)
We are disheartened at this behaviour as we approach Freedom Day and the national history that hover over our Durban streets, the history was what kept us united and now we are dishonouring it by disgracing our freedom fighters and causing more damage than refuge in our blessed land.
What we propose? We as South Africans and as proud GoRhino staff would like to acknowledge that we understand the plight that our fellow South Africans are going through, unemployment, the rise in costs of living and the feeling of being unheard can take a toll on the strongest of communities and we would like to take this opportunity to plead with you all, let’s not let the pressures of society take us backwards, let us find some solace from our past and let’s urge our leaders to provide us with guidance.
“On Freedom Day, we commit ourselves to ensuring the defence of the sacred freedoms that we had won as a result of a long, difficult and costly struggle. We remind ourselves that the guarantee of these freedoms requires permanent vigilance. It is our pledge to devote ourselves to continue to work to wipe out the legacy of racism in our country. We need to ensure that all our people enjoy these freedoms not merely as theoretical rights but they must form the daily life experience of all South Africans.” (Source: UKZN)
GoRhino would like to extend our sincere condolences to the families and friends to those who have lost their lives and to those who have been affected in any form or shape from the recent xenophobic behaviour. Let us set free the Freedom Day that we were meant to have as South Africans and beyond. South African or not, we should all stand together in times of need, regardless of where we come from.
Thank you for the sourced quotes from University of Kwazulu Natal!