South Africa marks 30 years of freedom amid inequality, poverty and a tense election ahead – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday. President Cyril Ramaphosa presided over the gathering in a huge white tent in the gardens of the government buildings in Pretoria as head of state.
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday that included a 21-gun salute and the waving of the nation’s multicolored flag.
But the celebration was set against a growing discontent with the current government.
President Cyril Ramaphosa presided over the gathering in a huge white tent in the gardens of the government buildings in Pretoria as head of state.
South African President Cyril President delivers a speech Saturday during Freedom Day celebrations in Pretoria, South Africa.
He also spoke as the leader of the African National Congress party, widely credited with liberating South Africa’s Black majority from the racist system of oppression that made the country a pariah for nearly a half-century.
The ANC has been in power ever since the first democratic, all-race election of April 27, 1994, the vote that officially ended apartheid.
But this Freedom Day holiday marking that day fell amid a poignant backdrop: Analysts and polls predict that the waning popularity of the party once led by Nelson Mandela is likely to see it lose its parliamentary majority for the first time as a new generation of South Africans make their voices heard in what might be the most important election since 1994 next month.
People attend Freedom Day celebrations Saturday in Pretoria, South Africa.
The 1994 election changed South Africa from a country where Black and other nonwhite people were denied most basic freedoms, not just the right to vote. Laws controlled where they lived, where they were allowed to go, and what jobs they could have. After apartheid fell, a new constitution guaranteed the rights of all South Africans no matter their race, religion, gender or sexuality.
Leading up to the anniversary, countless South Africans were asked what 30 years of freedom from apartheid meant to them. The dominant response was that while 1994 was a landmark moment, it’s now overshadowed by the joblessness, violent crime, corruption and near-collapse of basic services.
Nonki Kunene speaks Monday in Soweto, South Africa, recalling the joy she and many others felt 30 years ago when they voted for the first time. “I somehow wish we could go back to that day, because of how excited I was and the things that happened thereafter,” Kunene said.
As 72-year-old Nonki Kunene walks through the corridors of Thabisang Primary School in Soweto, she recalls the joy she and many others felt 30 years ago when they voted for the first time.
It was at this school on April 27, 1994, that Kunene joined millions of South Africans to brave long queues and take part in the country’s first democratic elections after decades of white minority rule denied Black people the right to vote.
Much of the enthusiasm and optimism of that period has subsided as Africa’s most developed economy faces a myriad of challenges.
“I somehow wish we could go back to that day, because of how excited I was and the things that happened thereafter,” said Kunene, referring to Mandela becoming the country’s first Black president and the fall of apartheid.
Lily Makhanya returns Monday to Thabisang Primary School, where she voted for the first time 30 years ago, in Soweto, South Africa. In 1994, she joined thousands of South Africans who braved long queues to cast a vote in South Africa’s first-ever elections after years of white minority rule denied Black South Africans the vote. 
For many who experienced apartheid, those years remain etched in their collective memory.
“I cannot forget how we suffered at the hands of whites. In the city at night, there were white bikers with hair like this (describing a mohawk-like hairstyle) who would brutally assault a Black person if they saw them walking on a pavement. Those white boys were cruel,” said 87-year-old Lily Makhanya, whose late husband died while working in the anti-apartheid movement’s underground structures.

“If they saw you walking on the pavement,” she said, “you would be assaulted so badly and left for dead.”
People line up to cast their votes April 27, 1994, in Soweto, South Africa, during the country’s first all-race elections.  
For Makhanya and many others who stood in those queues to vote in 1994, it represented a turning point from a brutal past to the promise of a prosperous future.
But 30 years later, the country continues to face pressing challenges.
South Africa is still the most unequal country in the world in terms of wealth distribution, according to the World Bank, with race a key factor.
Its Black majority that makes up more than 80% of the population of 62 million is still overwhelmingly affected by severe poverty.
Then-African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela casts his vote April 27, 1994, near Durban, South Africa, in the country’s first all-race elections.  
The official unemployment rate is 32% — the highest in the world — and more than 60% for young people between the ages of 15 and 24. More than 16 million South Africans — 25% of the country — rely on monthly welfare grants for survival.
Public demonstrations have become common as communities protest against the ruling African National Congress’ failure to deliver job opportunities and basic services like water and electricity.
An energy crisis that resulted in power blackouts is devastating the country’s economy and adding to the party’s woes. Businesses and homes are sometimes forced to go without electricity for up to 12 hours a day.
Areas like the affluent Johannesburg suburb of Sandton, which hosts beautiful skyscrapers and luxurious homes, are an example of the economic success enjoyed by a minority of the country’s populace.
A man walks along an informal settlement as a young girl plays next to the polluted Jukskei River on Nov. 11, 2014, in Alexandra, northern Johannesburg, South Africa. The country marked 30 years of freedom and democracy Saturday, amid a myriad of challenges, including widening inequality and poverty.
The township of Alexandra, which lies a few miles from Sandton, is a stark reflection of the living conditions of the country’s poor Black majority, where sewage from burst pipes flows on the streets and uncollected rubbish piles up on pavements.
Such contradictions are common across the major cities, including the capital Pretoria and the city of Cape Town, and remain at the center of what is expected to be a fiercely contested election in May.
For the first time since the ANC came to power in 1994, polls indicate the party might receive less than 50% of the national vote, which would see it lose power unless it manages to form a coalition with some smaller parties.
A protester holds up a poster Saturday at a Freedom Day celebration in Pretoria, South Africa.
Outside the tent where Ramaphosa spoke in front of mostly dignitaries and politicians Saturday, a group of young Black South Africans who support a new political party called Rise Mzansi wore T-shirts with the words “2024 is our 1994” on them.
Donald Mkhwanazi, 24, will be voting for the first time in the May 29 election and is actively involved in campaigning for Rise Mzansi, which will be contesting a national election for the first time.
“We talk about freedom, but are we free from crime, are we free from poverty?” he said. “What freedom is this that we are talking about?”
Nelson Mandela, born on July 18, 1918, and shown here in 2005, was South Africa’s first black president, from 1994 to 1999. He spent 27 years in prison for defying the nation’s leadership and its cruel race-based discrimination and emerged in 1990 to continue to fight for the dismantlement of apartheid. He died in 2013 and his quotes continue to inspire us.
“When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace.”
Above: A poster of Nelson Mandela is seen in the crowd during a memorial service for the deceased South African anti-apartheid leader and former President at the FND Stadium in Soweto, South Africa, on Dec. 10, 2013. (Graeme Williams/Action Press/Zuma Press/MCT)
“Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.”
Above: The small Robben Island cell where Nelson Mandela spent most of his 27 years of imprisonment in South Africa, shown here in 2004.
“A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.”
Above: South African President Nelson Mandela waves to the crowd at the end of his speech during a rally at Brits, South Africa, on April 11, 1999. (Anacleto Rapping/Los Angeles Times/MCT)
“Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward.”
Above: Nelson Mandela dances with Coretta Scott King, right, after he was elected president in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1994. (Jerry Holt/Minneapolis Star Tribune/MCT)
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
Above:  South African President Nelson Mandela speaks in the U.S. Capitol rotunda as Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and President Bill Clinton look on Sept. 23, 1998. In a rare display of unity at the time, President Clinton and the Republican-held Congress presented Mandela with a Congressional Gold Medal for ending apartheid and promoting reconciliation in South Africa. (KRT) PL KD (Horiz)
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
Above: President George W. Bush, right, meets with former South African leader Nelson Mandela in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday, May 17, 2005.
“It is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity, or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us: between those who cherish democracy and those who do not.”
Above:  Nelson Mandela, right, holds hands with Bishop Desmond Tutu in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1994. (Jerry Holt/Minneapolis Star Tribune/MCT)
“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”
Above: South African president Nelson Mandela, right, holds hands with former South African president F.W. de Klerk in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1994. (Jerry Holt/Minneapolis Star Tribune/MCT)
“Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way.”
Above: Flowers are placed at the foot of a statue of former South African President Nelson Mandela at the South African embassy in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6, 2013, one day after Mandela’s death. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT)
“I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”
Above: Nelson Mandela meets with President George W. Bush in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., in this file photo on May 17, 2005. (Chuck Kennedy/MCT)
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South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday. President Cyri…
South African President Cyril President delivers a speech Saturday during Freedom Day celebrations in Pretoria, South Africa.
People attend Freedom Day celebrations Saturday in Pretoria, South Africa.
Nonki Kunene speaks Monday in Soweto, South Africa, recalling the joy she and many others felt 30 years ago when they voted for the first time. “I somehow wish we could go back to that day, because of how excited I was and the things that happened thereafter,” Kunene said.
Lily Makhanya returns Monday to Thabisang Primary School, where she voted for the first time 30 years ago, in Soweto, South Africa. In 1994, she joined thousands of South Africans who braved long queues to cast a vote in South Africa’s first-ever elections after years of white minority rule denied Black South Africans the vote. 
People line up to cast their votes April 27, 1994, in Soweto, South Africa, during the country’s first all-race elections.  
Then-African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela casts his vote April 27, 1994, near Durban, South Africa, in the country’s first all-race elections.  
A man walks along an informal settlement as a young girl plays next to the polluted Jukskei River on Nov. 11, 2014, in Alexandra, northern Johannesburg, South Africa. The country marked 30 years of freedom and democracy Saturday, amid a myriad of challenges, including widening inequality and poverty.
A protester holds up a poster Saturday at a Freedom Day celebration in Pretoria, South Africa.
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