Durban – The ANC Youth League in KwaZulu-Natal said it was celebrating Freedom Day "cautiously", because the country was still not "economically free".
The league’s provincial secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo told News24 on Thursday that as much as their "forefathers" brought political freedom in the country, the majority of the people are still living in poverty.
“The country will be finally free when everyone, including blacks, participates in the economy of the country. Twenty-three years later, the minority still controls the economy,” he said.
South Africans voted democratically for the first time on April 27, 1994.
The ANC’s policy on radical economic transformation will free everyone in South Africa, Sabelo believes.
“While the rest of the country celebrates Freedom Day, some of the indigenous people of this country still live in poverty. They might be democratically free, but they cannot eat votes,” he said.
The league is calling for speedy economic transformation to address the inequalities of the past, he said.
Without education, economic freedom cannot be achieved.
“Government must provide free education so that the majority, especially the youth will be educated and be able to economically free themselves,” he said.
The league remains resolute that free education must be speedily provided to the youth.