In 2024, South Africa celebrates the 30th anniversary of Freedom Day. The first democratic elections in the country happened on April 27, 1994. Three decades after Nelson Mandela's emblematic election, the Black population is fighting to preserve the memory of this achievement and confront the neoliberal forces that keep the social structure of the Apartheid regime intact and the country as the world champion of inequality.
That's the theme of the documentary 30 Years of Mandela's Election – The Next Step, released this Saturday (27) by Brasil de Fato. Through unpublished testimonies from political leaders, people's movements, historians, artists, and former political prisoners, the film focuses on how was buil the popular struggle that ended Apartheid, pointing out the ways that led to the elections in 1994.
With around 20 million voters, it was the first time everyone over 18 had the right to vote in South Africa.
"The fall of Apartheid as a policy in South Africa was about people working together. The only way left for the apartheid government was to come to the table and negotiate. Then, finally, the president at the time, F.W. De Klerk, gave a speech in the South African Parliament on February 2, 1990. After his speech, Nelson Mandela was released from prison. Then, several organizations were disbanded. The negotiation process began, even though there were several conflicts in South Africa. But in the end, the final goal was achieved and realized," explains Caephus Mkhashane, a tour guide at the Apartheid Museum.
Directed by Iolanda Depizzol and Pedro Stropasolas, the Brasil de Fato production also denounces the fact that Freedom Day and the end of racial segregation did not mean the achievement of equality between the country's Black majority and white minority.
Irvin Jim, the General Secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), said that “We quickly learned that what we guaranteed through this was political power, but without economic power. It became very clear that what we had was a negotiated agreement, where the ruling class in society is the capitalist class that owns the mineral, energy and financial complex, constitutes South Africa's economy and was not prepared to basically rectify the ownership of Blacks and Africans who are economically marginalized, landless and dispossessed."
Unpredictable elections
The interviewees on Freedom Day, which is 30 years since Mandela's election, also comment on this year's presidential elections. On May 29, South Africa faces the most unpredictable elections of the post-apartheid era. In every election since 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) has won, acquiring a majority in parliament.
However, unemployment and rising poverty, especially among young people, cast doubt on the party's continuity in power. Around 27.5 million South Africans will be eligible to vote.
"The working class is being exploited, and people are paid peanuts to work long hours, in addition to services not being provided to the poor and marginalized in this country. That's the situation happening worldwide. We are seeing capitalism come to us, and if we don't stand up to capitalism, we will continue to be exploited," said Thapelo Mohapi, secretary-general of South Africa's most significant movement of slum dwellers, Abahlali baseMjondolo.
"The material economic realities where your grandparents lived – if you're a poor black person -, that's probably where you're living today. And where your grandparents lived, as a rich white person, is probably where you still live today. That is, in many ways, why there is a view that 1994 was a first step and an important one. But the second step still needs to be taken. 74% of young people in South Africa are unemployed because we haven't changed the economic structure of Apartheid. This is a racial phenomenon," concludes researcher Jonis Ghedi Alasow.
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