On Monday we hand over our report card to those — too numerous to mention — who laid down their lives for the freedom we enjoy.
Hopefully, they will take no umbrage if we single out one Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu to paraphrase and assure the rest of them that indeed, their blood has watered the trees of freedom. That they paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom is not a matter we take lightly, especially given the flippancy among some of the Born-Frees — that no one but themselves freed them.
In the report card, we will confess upfront that South Africa is not where they would have wanted it to be — yet — but it is also not the country it was, the pariah of the world.
We will say South Africa punches above her weight, taking up cudgels on behalf of the downtrodden against bullies of the world.
We will cite the December 2023 genocide case against Israel that we brought to the International Court of Justice when every other nation that has the ability to do so chose to look the other way.
For this bold move, we will tell those who know Washington’s warm ties with apartheid Pretoria too well, that we have attracted the ire of the ogre in the Oval Office.
No surprises there, they will surely assure us. America has always arrogated to itself the role of the policeman of the world.
We will tell them that our man in the Union Buildings is insisting on South Africa jealously guarding her sovereignty. Our Number One citizen is gaining more gumption to tell the West: “We will not be bullied.”
We will tell our fallen heroes that when once they ran to the world in anguish, seeking help against the racist Nationalist regime, these days the world looks to us for help. We have kept our friends, among them Cuba; and we have not forgotten the people of Palestine and the Saharawi Republic, contrary to calls for us to turn our backs on them.
The world marvels at our model Constitution and has even taken a leaf out of our reconciliation process to heal their own wretched past. Our Truth and Reconciliation Commission has become a textbook case of healing the wounds of the past.
In the report card we will say that a lot has improved. Our national electricity grid has been extended to serve every citizen, not just a select few. We have legislated changes
to ensure that the history we choose to leave in the past dares not repeat itself. Our education budget is for every child; black, white, Indian or coloured.
Justice, we will say, is ideally meant to serve all, equally but we will readily admit there have been regrettable gaps where justice has been delayed, therefore denied.
Freedom has come at a cost. But it has been worth every step.
South Africa is becoming.
We will tell our fallen heroes that when they ran to the world in anguish seeking help against the racist Nationalist regime, at present, the world looks to us for help
