Attacks opposed to all our freedom represents

As we prepare to mark Freedom Day this year and remember those remarkable freedom fighters who dedicated their lives to obtaining the very freedoms and democracy that we now have, we should remind ourselves of the great price – the sacrifices, the imprisonments, bannings, torture, deaths and suffering in exile – paid on behalf of the oppressed masses.

But sadly we will mark this freedom day, in occupied Azania, with our heads bowed.

The shameful actions of a few, their criminal acts against our African brothers and sisters from other parts of the continent, have tarnished the name of South Africa.

Today, when one watches the television or reads newspapers and other media, we come across shocking images of violence perpetrated against people from other countries living among us. These include cold-blooded acts of murder, brutal assaults, looting and the destruction of their property.

Truth be told, ever since the birth of our democracy we have witnessed such callousness.

As part of the reflection that Freedom Day requires of us, we must acknowledge that the events of the past weeks have been an absolute disgrace, not only for this country, but for our entire continent.

The violent attacks and criminality we have seen perpetrated by a few South Africans is opposed to everything our freedom from apartheid represents.

The violent attacks and criminality taking place in KwaZulu-Natal and some parts of Gauteng stands against everything we have sought to do to build a humane and caring society based on the values of ubuntu.

The cruel actions of these few individual killers do not and cannot reflect the values of our people who for decades have lived together with their fellow African brothers and sisters.

As we celebrate our many freedoms here in South African, there are certain things we should never forget.

We should never forget that our struggle for liberation has always been both national and Pan-African.

Our freedom was attained through the combined efforts of many Africans in many countries across our continent.

We should not forget that many people in other African countries helped us by providing shelter, scholarships and other means so that we could survive, while many in our own country died because of apartheid aggression.

Further, we must also understand that our own progress and prosperity is dependent on the progress and prosperity of our neighbours and other African countries.

Thus South Africans have to understand that they too have a continental role and identity.

This is the time for unity; it is a time to speak with one voice against all these barbaric attacks which will only take us back to a past of violent conflict, which no one among us can afford.

As we think of Freedom Day we should all, as South Africans, pause to reflect on what it means to be a human being, a South African and an African.

This is how we will be able to answer the question of whether we are on the right path towards achieving a united, liberated and peaceful nation.

Further, we all have a responsibility to defend human freedom and human life.

This means that we must stand firm in our commitment to work hard to achieve the goal of a non-racial, non-sexist, non-ethnic and most of all, non-violent country for all of our people.

Whatever concerns that may exist in our society, including those of a lack of housing, unemployment, poor service delivery, load-shedding and so on, these should be addressed in a manner consistent with a dignified, human and caring society, not lawlessness.

It is also totally wrong for South Africans to isolate and segregate foreign nationals when we should be integrating them within our communities, as has been a tradition for many decades.

All of us, as society, need to develop the ethos and ethics that help build great and successful nations.

We need to develop a spirit of resilience in the face of what may seem to be formidable odds. We need to infuse unity and cohesion into our culture in order to create a viable, better country.

So as we gather together on the beautiful land of occupied Azania, we should rededicate ourselves to building a united, democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous society.

We should commit ourselves to ensuring the defence of the sacred freedoms we had won as a result of a long, difficult and costly struggle.

We should remind ourselves that the guarantee of these freedoms requires permanent vigilance.

It is our responsibility as citizens to devote ourselves to continue working towards wiping out the legacy of racism in our country.

Our government too is obliged to ensure that all our people enjoy these freedoms, not merely as theoretical rights but as part of their daily life experience.

It is vital that our government provides a national platform for educating our people against xenophobia and Afrophobia and for helping people to understand the phenomenon of migration, its global nature, its causes and how others elsewhere in the world manage it.

Today we have an opportunity to recommit ourselves to working with other Africans in our country and from the rest of our continent towards the greater goal of African unity.

Unity means that in our own country we must live together with our brothers and sisters from other African countries as good neighbours.

Wherever we may be, we should be proud of our identity as Africans and not do anything that will bring shame and humiliation upon ourselves, both as a country and as Africans.

God Bless Afrika|Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika|Mungu ibariki Afrika!

Nhlanhla Mosele is a writer and blogger from Ginsberg