Happy Freedom Day!

Freedom Day is a South African public holiday celebrated on April 27.

Freedom Day is celebrated annually as a reminder of the struggle for a free and just South Africa culminating in the first democratic elections held in 1994, where South Africans of every walk of life participated in the making of our new country. Freedom Day commemorates the first democratic elections held in South Africa on April 27, 1994.

Freedom Day provides a milestone for all South Africans to collectively participate in the commemoration of the pain and struggle to build a non-racial, democratic and free South Africa in which we all have the freedom to prosper. The following is a list of Freedom Day acts or oaths, as described by the South African Government:

- Government reaffirms its commitment to consolidate democracy and promote cultural diversity and social cohesion in South Africa, as we celebrate living in a system that guarantees that never again will our humanity be taken from any South African, irrespective of their race, gender, creed or sexual orientation.

- In commemorating all the hero and heroines and the role played by ordinary citizens in the country and abroad, government calls on all South Africans to unite in creating a better future for all.

- Nation-building requires all South Africans to live by example, ensuring that that the values and principles enshrined in our Constitution become a lived reality in the development of fully functioning communities.

- We celebrate the Bill of Rights, which distinguishes us among the nations of the world and guarantees all South Africans freedom from the repression and hatred that characterised our past.


~ Information located at: http://www.info.gov.za/events/2011/freedomday.htm