South African citizens from different race, class, gender and/ or cultural backgrounds have not adequately shared their experiences of apartheid and democracy. This is according to Government Communications Services (GCIS) on the eve of the launch of Freedom Month celebrations.
To address social cohesion in the country, government will launch a “20 Years of Freedom and Democracy: Tell your story”-campaign. This campaign, which forms part of the overall 20 Years of Freedom and Democracy campaign, seeks to:
• Provide an opportunity for ordinary South Africans to share their experiences of apartheid and a democratic South Africa with citizens from different social strata.
• Create awareness about what it was like growing up in apartheid South Africa, what role citizens might have played in ensuring democratic change and their experience of South Africa today.
• Get dialogues and conversations started in local communities and to begin the process of building social cohesion and a national identity.
• Build a socially coherent South Africa where citizens share a national identity and contribute to determining the way forward for the country.
We took to Social Media to find out what people are saying about their experiences since the advent of democracy in South Africa, and received mixed responses.
Government is encouraging local communities to host events where South Africans can participate freely, without fear or prejudice and tell their stories.
The Tell your Story events should, where possible, include participants from across the racial, gender, class divide. This is so as to get open dialogue and discussion going across social groupings that might not normally be interacting. Government has also added that these events should be positive occasions.
The campaign aims to culminate to a single main day that everyone around the country participates in and feels part of.
On Thursday Freedom Month celebrations are being launched under the theme of “South Africa – a Better Place to live in.
For more on the SABC’s coverage of 20 years of democracy, click here .
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