Freedom for who? Unions, opposition parties lament state of SA
It's been 29 years since South Africans queued at the polls for the country's first democratic elections in 1994.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead the government's official Freedom Day celebrations at Klerksdorp in North West.
As South Africans celebrate this momentous day in world history, many are questioning what there truly is to celebrate.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) says the ANC has not produced meaningful transformation.
"The governing ANC, which was voted into power by the majority of the working class, has failed to deliver on the promises that it made to the masses, to transform their lives after Apartheid," said Numsa national spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola.
"South Africa is the most unequal society in the world.
"We have the highest unemployment rate in Africa - our rate of unemployment is even higher than the Ukraine and they are a country at war!
"For more than two decades, the ANC has been implementing policies to benefit the wealthy capitalist elite.
"The economy remains untransformed, and the land and mineral wealth are owned and controlled by white monopoly capital.
"At the same time, the National Treasury is worsening the suffering of workers and their families, by implementing austerity measures, and drastically cutting costs, resulting in the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer."
Opposition party Copw expressed similar concerns, saying that the future looks bleak for South Africans.
"The situation in the country is going from bad to worse," said spokesperson Dennis Bloem.
"Healthcare is on the verge of collapse, hospitals and clinics go for weeks without medicine, and people are turned back empty-handed.
"Almost all municipalities have collapsed and cannot deliver basic services to their residents.
"The safety and security situation in the country is very scary - nobody is safe anymore and lawlessness has taken over.
"For the vast majority of the people in the country, there is nothing to celebrate after twenty-nine years in this hard fought democracy."
The Freedom Front Plus is calling on South Africans to use the 2024 elections to regain their freedom.
"The ANC is misleading the public by pretending that it stands for constitutional rights and freedom for all," said party leader Pieter Groenewald.
"When millions of people do not have a job or food or a roof over their head, the notion of freedom is meaningless.
"That is why it is imperative to remove the ANC in next year's elections to gain true freedom
"The longer this government remains in power, the more freedom in all areas is eroded and the weaker the economy becomes."
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