By Michael Morris
Head of Media at the SA Institute of Race Relations
There is every reason today to celebrate the freedoms and rights that were gained in 1994 because these are the things that gave all of us equality before the law, and the dignity of being treated as individuals who have agency, who can choose how and where to live, and what to think or say.
Yet there’s a reason why in 2026, Freedom Day has a less than joyous atmosphere and that reason is that so much of the potential of 1994 has been squandered or eroded through bad policy choices, unchecked corruption and political indifference to the plight of the people.
That plight is visible in our low economic growth, unacceptably high unemployment, insufficient investment, and dysfunction across so much of the state.
And so, many people today might well ask themselves: do we really have equality before the law, and do we really have the dignity of being treated as individuals who have agency?
Having said, there are good reasons to not give up hope:
-For all its difficulties and contradictions, the government of national unity broadly demonstrates that when we work together even across the political aisle the common interest has a much greater chance of being served.
-And the other cause for optimism is that the nature of that common interest really is more widely share, than most people might imagine.
The IRR’s most recent polling shows for example that Most South Africans 70% say the government should not continue using apartheid-era race categories to decide who qualifies for business and job opportunities, 89% agree that the different races need one another for progress based on full opportunity for all, and to pick just one other data point.
Economic upliftment is seen as the best route to take us beyond racial inequality … with 76% overall (and 75% of black respondents) agreeing that better education and more jobs will steadily reduce inequality between the races, up from 73% a year ago.
So, to sum up: if the freedoms we got in 1994 have not delivered all we might have hoped for, they are central to achieving what we are capable of, and what we deserve.
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