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Opinion article by Geraldine Lengau, Senior Officer, Unit For Institutional Change and Social Justice.

Thirty-one years later, we still remember and appreciate the hard work that has historically gone into ensuring that we live in the kind of South Africa we envisaged. A South Africa that is free from the oppression of apartheid and many other forms of prejudice and discrimination. However, despite this significant milestone, IT IS NOT YET UHURU (uhuru means “freedom” or “independence” in Swahili). 

Three decades on, we must ask ourselves whether we truly recognise and appreciate the struggle that has gone into living in the kind of SA envisioned? Was this the kind of South Africa that was lovingly imagined 31 years ago? I certainly think not.

But, decades into the new dawn of democracy, there remains hope in many areas and spheres of our Constitution and its administration to ensure that the freedoms that were fought for are attained for all.

One such sliver of hope stems from the newly amended Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007. This Act seeks to define sexual crimes in a gender-neutral way, thereby including both men and women for recognition as possible victims or perpetrators of sexual offences. Furthermore, key provisions in this Act include, but are not limited to, how rape is now defined, making it applicable to all forms of sexual penetration without consent – regardless of gender. It also defines and criminalises the act of sexual grooming, recognises post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and addresses the burning topic of a national register of sex offenders.

What is most significant in this Act in relation to Freedom Day is the definition, expansion and affirmation of what the Act refers to as “a vulnerable group” – to include children, females under 25 years, people with disabilities, and individuals aged 60 years and who reside in care facilities. This, in my opinion, and notwithstanding the fact that gender-based violence (GBV) occurs at a disproportionately high rate against females than against males, is progressive legislation given the alarming rates of GBV in our country. The situation becomes even more dire when we consider the current landscape of GBV against children.

The recent #Justice4CweCwe movement comes to mind and is no different to many other hashtag movements we have had in the past. There is Joshlin Smith, who at the tender age of six mysteriously disappeared from her home and is suspected to be a victim of human trafficking; and many more cases affecting these vulnerable communities.

According to Bianca Van Aswegen, a criminologist and national co-ordinator of Missing Children South Africa, figures released by South Africa’s missing persons bureau in 2013 said that a child goes missing every five hours… and these statistics have not been updated since. Again, I ask: Are these the freedoms that were fought for?

In 2022, the Human Sciences Research Council performed a baseline survey on victimisation and perpetration, titled "South African national gender-based violence." The study indicated that 33.1% of women aged 18 and older had suffered physical abuse in their lifetime. When applied to the South African population as a whole, this equates to around 7,310,389 women.

Life is not yet uhuru for all vulnerable communities in South Africa. The death, disappearance, stalking, bullying, extortion, grooming, and invalidation of one woman is one too many.

As we take time off work, school, and various economic activities to commemorate this day, may we pause to ask ourselves an important question: Which freedoms are we enjoying in totality in South Africa as women and, more importantly, as vulnerable groups? Yes, we may be able and privileged to cast our vote and make use of our constitutional democracy and exercise our citizenship. But what will it take for women to enjoy these freedoms or – perhaps more poignantly – what is the price that women pay for enjoying these freedoms?