Last week was the 70th anniversary of the Freedom Charter, a seminal document in the history of South Africa’s liberation from apartheid.
On 26 June 1955, about 3,000 people converged on the football ground in Kliptown, Soweto. They came from all walks of life, and all races were represented.
This diverse meeting was the culmination of a three-year campaign, led by the ANC, the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Trade Unions the Coloured People’s Congress and the South African Congress of Democrats, to solicit the wishes and demands of the people of South Africa.
The delegates were elected by local communities and grassroots organisations in urban and rural areas, and their travel to Johannesburg was paid for by local fundraising campaigns.
At the gathering, known as the Congress of the People, the assembled delegates adopted and ratified the Freedom Charter, which is the seminal document outlining the vision for a new South Africa, free of the racist oppression of apartheid.
It remains the ideological touchstone of liberation movement organisations, including the ANC, to this day. And it really is a great document. Mostly.
Glorious vision
I remember receiving a mimeographed flyer of the Freedom Charter as a barely 18-year-old university student in 1989 that looked much like the copy that accompanies this article.
It presented a glorious vision of freedom and equality, which was a breath of fresh air after the repressive morality, conformity and racial inequality of whites-only Christelike Nasionale Onderwijs (Christian National Education).
The Congress of the People was broken up by police on the second day, and many were arrested for expressing subversive political opinions. A year later, the Freedom Charter itself was banned.
The Freedom Charter was the first time that a truly non-racial vision for a future South Africa was established, and it won broad-based support from all corners. It ought to be celebrated, if for this aspect alone.
However, it also stands as a symbol for the failures of the post-democracy government.
One only has to look at Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, where the Charter was signed, to witness the failure of the promises of a better life for all.
What should be a glorious memorial stands dilapidated and neglected, only a stone’s throw from people living in grinding squatter-camp poverty – as Nandi Ntini and Thabiso Goba both eloquently wrote last week.
Product of its time
The Freedom Charter itself offers some clues to why this happened. There is much to like in the Freedom Charter, but unsurprisingly, it also has some grave socialist flaws.
It was a product of its time: socialism was spreading around the world, and was the ideology that supported anti-colonial liberation movements.
The capitalist West was not only the historical agent of colonialism and racial segregation, but it was also half-hearted in its condemnation of apartheid.
For the US and the UK in particular, that South Africa was a stable bulwark against communist expansionism trumped its racist human rights record. In the context of the Cold War, the West prized anti-communist stability, even if that meant tolerating brutal regimes and autocrats.
Socialism was seen as the ideology of equality and freedom, standing against brutal colonial capitalism.
This view was, of course, mistaken. Colonialism and segregation were imposed by governments, not by the capitalist free market. And socialism inescapably requires an authoritarian government that restricts freedom and offers a better life only for the well-connected political elite.
Since the Freedom Charter was adopted, we have had 70 years of incontrovertible evidence, from countries around the world, that the more free an economy is, the higher is the standard of living, and that the poor have a higher standard of living in economically free countries than most of the rich do in economically unfree countries.
In short, free market capitalism works, and government-dominated socialism does not.
Let’s read
With that in mind, let’s read the Freedom Charter.
PREAMBLE. We, the people of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know:
That South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of the people;
This line, that South Africa belongs to all who live in it (“united in our diversity”) went straight into the preamble of South Africa’s new Constitution.
That our people have been robbed of their birthright to land, liberty and peace by a form of government founded on injustice and inequality;
That our country will never be prosperous or free until all our people live in brotherhood, enjoying equal rights and opportunities;
That only a democratic state, based on the will of the people, can secure to all their birthright without distinction of colour, race, sex or belief;
And therefore, we, the people of South Africa, black and white, together – equals, countrymen and brothers – adopt this FREEDOM CHARTER. And we pledge ourselves to strive together, sparing nothing of our strength and courage, until the democratic changes here set out have been won.
I can find no reason to object.
There is a fringe belief among libertarians that democracy sucks, and it does. Not only does it present the clear threat of the tyranny of the majority, but there is no reason to believe that a majority of any group will necessarily make a correct and principled choice when they vote. Many voters simply don’t understand economics, and are unable to foresee the unintended consequences of popular policies. (That goes for many politicians too, for that matter.)
Democratic elections, after all, produced villains and monsters like Donald Trump, Hugo Chávez, Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Putin, Robert Mugabe, Juan Manuel Perón, Alberto Fujimori, Néstor and Cristina Kirchner, Viktor Yanukovych, Antonio Salazar, Rafael Trujillo, and Viktor Orbán.
However, there is no alternative that is just, fair, and legitimate. As much as I’d like to live in a country ruled by a Hayekian king, who decrees freedom and heartlessly refuses to interfere in the personal and business affairs of his subjects, the fatal flaws in any conception of a philosopher-king are that there is no broadly acceptable way to select such a leader, and it leaves citizens without lawful recourse if the king becomes a tyrant.
The best we can do is create constitutional democracies. The democracy part establishes broad-based legitimacy for the government, while the constitution protects the rights of citizens against the tyranny of the majority.
In short, I’m all for the Freedom Charter’s call for a democratic state and equal rights.
THE PEOPLE SHALL GOVERN! Every man and woman shall have the right to vote for and stand as a candidate for all bodies which make laws. All the people shall be entitled to take part in the administration of the country. The rights of the people shall be the same regardless of race, colour or sex. All bodies of minority rule, advisory boards, councils and authorities shall be replaced by democratic organs of self-government.
Hear, hear!
ALL NATIONAL GROUPS SHALL HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS! There shall be equal status in the bodies of state, in the courts and in the schools for all national groups and races; All national groups shall be protected by law against insults to their race and national pride; All people shall have equal rights to use their own language and to develop their own folk culture and customs; The preaching and practice of national, race or colour discrimination and contempt shall be a punishable crime; All apartheid laws and practices shall be set aside.
Yes to equal rights. Yes to equal status. Yes to the right to use your own language and practise your own culture. Yes to punishing the practice of discrimination. (I’d add some nuance and say that I really only want to prohibit discrimination by the state, but given South Africa’s racist history, and the widespread survival of racism, I won’t object to outlawing discrimination in the private sphere, even if doing so theoretically violates the principles of liberty.)
I disagree that national groups, or indeed individuals, should be protected by law against insults, other than legal protection against defamation that damages their reputation. The same goes for preaching discrimination and contempt. I will hold people who do so in contempt myself, but I don’t believe that one can combat wrong speech by prohibiting it.
THE PEOPLE SHALL SHARE IN THE COUNTRY’S WEALTH! The national wealth of our country, the heritage of all South Africans, shall be restored to the people; The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole; All other industries and trade shall be controlled to assist the well-being of the people; All people shall have equal rights to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and professions.
That last clause is great. The rest is socialist nonsense. If something belongs to everybody, then nobody takes responsibility for it. And if the state controls industries and trade, well, we’ve seen what happens then. Hardly a single state-owned enterprise is free of crippling corruption, debt and dysfunction.
THE LAND SHALL BE SHARED AMONG THOSE WHO WORK IT! Restriction of land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all the land re-divided amongst those who work it, to banish famine and land hunger; The state shall help the peasants with implements, seed, tractors and dams to save the soil and assist the tillers; Freedom of movement shall be guaranteed to all who work on the land; All shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose; People shall not be robbed of their cattle, and forced labour and farm prisons shall be abolished.
This is outdated agrarian revolution nonsense. There is no real land hunger. The vast majority of people who sued for land restitution and were offered either the land or a cash payout chose the cash. Restrictions of land ownership on a racial basis are absolutely wrong, I agree, freedom of movement should be guaranteed to all (whether or not they work the land), and people shouldn’t be robbed or forced to work. People should not, however, have the right to occupy whatever land they choose, in violation of private property rights, and the state should not be subsidising farmers, or anyone else.
ALL SHALL BE EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW! No one shall be imprisoned, deported or restricted without a fair trial; No one shall be condemned by the order of a Government official; The courts shall be representative of the people; Imprisonment shall be only for serious crimes against the people, and shall aim at re-education, not vengeance; The police force and army shall be open to all on an equal basis and shall be the helpers and protectors of the people;
Absolutely. Equality before the law is essential in a free society.
All laws which discriminate on grounds of race, colour or belief shall be repealed.
Quite so. They should have added “and no new laws which discriminate on grounds of race, colour or belief shall be enacted”.
ALL SHALL ENJOY EQUAL HUMAN RIGHTS! The law shall guarantee to all their right to speak, to organise, to meet together, to publish, to preach, to worship and to educate their children; The privacy of the house from police raids shall be protected by law; All shall be free to travel without restriction from countryside to town, from province to province, and from South Africa abroad; Pass laws, permits and all other laws restricting these freedoms shall be abolished.
Yes! We don’t want a police state. We want freedom.
THERE SHALL BE WORK AND SECURITY! All who work shall be free to form trade unions, to elect their officers and to make wage agreements with their employers; The state shall recognise the right and duty of all to work, and to draw full unemployment benefits; Men and women of all races shall receive equal pay for equal work; There shall be a 40-hour working week, a national minimum wage, paid annual leave, and sick leave for all workers, and maternity leave on full pay for all working mothers; Miners, domestic workers, farm workers and civil servants shall have the same rights as all others who work;
Other than that one cannot command work into being, and that I oppose a national minimum wage, I don’t mind this section so much, especially in light of the chronic exploitation of black labour under apartheid.
Unfortunately, South Africa’s labour legislation went even further than this clause, and made unions and employees far more powerful than employers. This causes higher levels of unemployment because it makes hiring a risky, expensive business; it makes it harder for unemployed people to find work; and it subjects small businesses to employment standard regimes that large businesses negotiated and which only large businesses can afford.
Child labour, compound labour, the tot system and contract labour shall be abolished.
Agreed. Except maybe the part about child labour, but there are good arguments on both sides of that disagreement.
THE DOORS OF LEARNING AND OF CULTURE SHALL BE OPENED! The government shall discover, develop and encourage national talent for the enhancement of our cultural life; All the cultural treasures of mankind shall be open to all, by free exchange of books, ideas and contact with other lands; The aim of education shall be to teach the youth to love their people and their culture, to honour human brotherhood, liberty and peace; Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children; Higher education and technical training shall be opened to all by means of state allowances and scholarships awarded on the basis of merit;
I largely agree, especially with the demand that education shall be equal for all children. Bantu education, which was grossly underfunded and under-resourced, by comparison with public education for white children, was one of apartheid’s biggest crimes.
I chafe at the demand for everything to be free, however. Especially at tertiary level, education should not be free, but be an investment in a plausible future career that can pay for the education received.
At school level, I’d much prefer a means-tested voucher system to make education available to everyone, instead of just making it free for all. I don’t see why the government ought to pay for the education of children whose families can afford their education just fine.
Adult illiteracy shall be ended by a mass state education plan;
Fair.
Teachers shall have all the rights of other citizens;
Yeah, sure, if they insist.
The colour bar in cultural life, in sport and in education shall be abolished.
Absolutely.
THERE SHALL BE HOUSES, SECURITY AND COMFORT! All people shall have the right to live where they choose, to be decently housed, and to bring up their families in comfort and security; Unused housing space is to be made available to the people; Rent and prices shall be lowered, food plentiful and no one shall go hungry; A preventive health scheme shall be run by the state; Free medical care and hospitalisation shall be provided for all, with special care for mothers and young children;
This is a very utopian, socialist vision of how society functions. When the state lowers prices, this leads to shortages, not plentiful food.
Critically, this evokes a future in which citizens are serfs of the state, renting their housing but never owning it. This clause is where private property rights and a free market ought to have been demanded. The absence of property rights is the single biggest defect of the Freedom Charter.
For every house that the state provides, and every healthcare service the state offers, someone has to work to make it happen.
While I don’t object to a reasonable social safety net and government healthcare for the poor, providing extensive free services for all of society is a recipe for shortages, poor service, rationing and waiting lists.
Slums shall be demolished, and new suburbs built where all have transport, roads, lighting, playing fields, creches and social centres;
Well, this didn’t happen, did it? Some housing and some facilities have been built by the government, but millions remain in the slums and barren townships created by apartheid.
The aged, the orphans, the disabled and the sick shall be cared for by the state;
This places another great burden on the state, which hardly seems appropriate in a middle-income developing country. Again, provide a safety net for the poor, but let the middle class and the rich look after their own.
Rest, leisure and recreation shall be the right of all;
I agree, though it is largely a matter of contract between employer and employee.
Fenced locations and ghettoes shall be abolished, and laws which break up families shall be repealed.
The migrant labour system, complete with its pass books and male-only hostels, are another of the great crimes of apartheid. Families were broken up because women did not have the right to join their husbands who worked on the mines or in cities. Generations grew up in households broken up not by poor morals, but by the deliberate policies of the state. We’re still paying for that crime today.
THERE SHALL BE PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP! South Africa shall be a fully independent state, which respects the rights and sovereignty of all nations; South Africa shall strive to maintain world peace and the settlement of all international disputes by negotiation – not war; Peace and friendship amongst all our people shall be secured by upholding the equal rights, opportunities and status of all; The people of the protectorates – Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland – shall be free to decide for themselves their own future; The right of all the peoples of Africa to independence and self-government shall be recognised, and shall be the basis of close cooperation.
This is the basis for a splendid foreign policy. Unfortunately, South Africa’s foreign policy is informed not by a principled devotion to democracy, freedom and human rights, but by old anti-colonial liberation struggle alliances. This is why we obstinately remain best friends with the world’s most objectionable regimes, such as Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
South Africa is still fighting the anti-colonial struggle, in its leaders’ heads. It still pits the West (or “Global North” in modern parlance) against the Global South, and still views the world in Marxist terms as a struggle between oppressor and oppressed.
This country would have far more moral standing in the world if its foreign policy actually upheld the freedoms and rights enshrined in its Constitution.
Let all who love their freedom and their country now say, as we say here:
“THESE FREEDOMS WE WILL FIGHT FOR, SIDE BY SIDE, THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES, UNTIL WE HAVE WON OUR LIBERTY.”
Amandla awethu! Power to the people!
The Freedom Charter has critical flaws in its lack of recognition of property rights and individual endeavour, and in its socialist appeal to a patriarchal government in which citizens are infantilised and forever dependent on a benevolent state.
It deserves to be celebrated for its firm demands for liberty and equality, and its noble vision of a South Africa free of racism, racial discrimination and the oppressive police state of the apartheid regime.
That is a vision of which we should never lose sight.
Unfortunately, the legacy of the Freedom Charter has been corroded by its appeal to socialism, which is directly responsible for the dismal reality that surrounds the Freedom Charter monument in Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, Soweto.
[Image: The Freedom Charter, in a format that was commonly distributed during the 1980s and early 1990s. Public domain image.]
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.
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