In his reflection on ‘Freedom Day’, observed annually on April 27 since 1994, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha Diocese calls for an effective education system as well as for the “creation of industries or sectors in rural areas”, to create “employment and begin to do something to affirm the dignity” of South Africans “by enabling them to earn their income so that they become truly free from the patronage of politicians.”

Bishop Sipuka also calls for the “decentralisation of economic activity and inclusion of all in wealth creation”, which must be “concurrently done with the beefing up of education.”

“Beefing-up education must include a system of educating children according to their ability instead of forcing all children into a high school system and setting up more than half of them for failure”, says Bishop Sipuka, adding, “Beefing up education must therefore include educating children and parents about the Constitution, ensuring that people understand that freedom does not mean that one can do what one likes and infringe on other people’s freedom.”

As South Africa celebrates 29 years of freedom, Bishop Sipuka notes that as the country approaches “the third decade of freedom”, it is “descending into lawlessness and criminality, which the state appears unable to handle”, and calls for the correction of “the misdeeds of those in leadership” to “remove the conditions that make for corruption.”