OP-ED: How do we mark the 65th anniversary of the Freedom Charter?

The Freedom Charter has always had a revolutionary character, insofar as it dared to speak on behalf of all of the “people of South Africa” at a time when only whites were enfranchised and the notion of black people designating themselves as part of or in fact the majority component of “the people” subverted the notion of who comprised South Africa of the time.

There have been times when references to the Freedom Charter were very sectarian, being attacked and defended from the left and right. Initially some who objected to the notion that South Africa belonged to “all who live in it, black and white” disputed the claims of non-Africans, but especially whites, to be part of South Africa. The Pan Africanist Congress broke away from the ANC on this basis and was formed as an Africanist organisation .

The boldness of the youth paved the way for a reopening of the public space and re-emergence of popular organisations in the late 1970s. Some of these were allied to the ANC and the Freedom Charter, some others were either with Black Consciousness or “workerist” orientations, that is, emphasising primarily class factors in order to pave the way for socialism.

The words “care” and “compassion” do not appear in the Freedom Charter though a number of words suggest it. The masculinist word “brotherhood” , for example, is a reference to living together with mutual respect and concern:

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