Freedom Day gets a whole new meaning this year
I can’t help but think what it must have been to be in prison for 27 years. Twenty seven years! Not days, YEARS! With only 3 days left in the 35 days of Level 5 lockdown nationwide, I feel our lives have changed in just a very short period. I feel for all who have been in this ‘lockdown prison’ and had to endure hardship on different levels: from being cramped into a small space with too many people and no food on the table, to being ‘stuck’ on a farm without enough wine and failing internet. I feel for our president, for the pressure that is on his shoulders, and the responsibility he has towards all South Africa’s citizens but also the African continent and community worldwide.
Just like the world embraced Nelson Mandela 27 years ago as South Africa’s first democratically elected President, current President Cyrill Ramaphosa is respected and applauded nationally as well as internationally by the way he and his team are handling C-19 and the impact it has on the citizens of South Africa. Yet another story we can be proud of! Yes, there are hiccups and yes there is criticism, but generally he shines like the statesman this country has been longing for.
I shared the #ViewFromMyWindow on a facebook page with the same name with over 40million people worldwide earlier this morning, and thought of the view Nelson Mandela had from his prison cell. His view, his dream, his mission was to unite the country, in all its diversity.
A dream this virus has brought to the surface: we are all humans, we all have our place in society, and most of us if not all care for each other to get through this, together. A view and a dream still worth fighting for after so many years.