Caged in?

How ironic is our country’s fight for freedom? During this 10 day long seminar we had the chance to visit Constitutional Hill and a refugee camp in Glenvista Rifle Range in Johannesburg. After these visits I can not stop myself from thinking that there are many similarities between the imprisonment of political prisoners back in the apartheid era and keeping refugees in camps around the country now.


Here are some comparisons to help you understand. Our tour guide at Constitutional Hill told us that the prisoners were mainly fed bread, porridge, tea and sometimes they got some coffee with a bit of sugar and fruit. This was a little more than the six slices of bread, tea and sometimes fruit that the government is feeding refugees in the camps at the moment. Even the sleeping arrangements have some similarities. Prisoners had only one blanket, while the refugees also have to do with just one. Sleeping on the floor, cement or a tent floor, is another thing these people have in common.


This has left me with the question, are we really free in South Africa? Even us as normal South Africans are been caged in by all the barriers we’ve erected around our homes and workplaces to keep us safe from the escalating crime situation we face.

By stating all of this, I want to bring home the point that many South Africans still don’t have our democracy’s promised freedom (and I’m not going to say our new democracy, because after 14 years, I don’t think it’s new anymore!) It is such a shame that, in such a vibrant and beautiful country, we are in so many ways caged in. I hope we all rise to the occasion and realize or own responsibility regarding freedom, especially the government!