South Africa has a concentration of public holidays between late March and early May, and somewhere during this time two things happen. First, political figures have to make speeches, and you can imagine how the designated politicians just love drawing this short straw. And, second, there is lots of grumbling from business organisations about how many public holidays South Africa has and how disruptive they are.
The concentration of the public holidays is pretty accidental, because of the overlap between politically significant days and religious holidays. And as the government keeps pointing out to the grumblers, the total number of public holidays in South Africa (12) is pretty much dead on the international average. Nepal has 35 public holidays, which is absurd; the US has six, which is kinda cruel.
The argument against public holidays is obvious: they are disruptive and unproductive. There is also an ethical consideration, because actually public holidays tend to hurt the income of poor people most, as they are more likely to be working piece jobs. The argument in favour of public holidays is that they create a sense of social cohesion and reinforce shared narratives.
In the intense public holiday period in South Africa, this ought to be true, because the period includes Human Rights Day on March 21, Freedom Day on April 27 and Labour Day on May 1. So of course, this year, our public holidays were dominated by fiery public speeches by our most senior politicians, signalling new directions and invigorating the nation. Er … well, actually not so much.
Just for example, deputy president Paul Mashatile led South Africa’s national Human Rights Day celebration at Kariega, Eastern Cape, under the theme “Deepening a Culture of Social Justice and Human Rights”. He said the government of national unity is “committed to implementing three strategic priorities including inclusive growth and creating jobs; reducing poverty and addressing the high cost of living; and building a capable state that is ethical and developmental that will prioritise at all times the human rights of our people”. And so on. Electrifying it was not.
Minister of mineral and petroleum resources Gwede Mantashe delivered the national Freedom Day address in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, on behalf of President Cyril Ramaphosa. He said: Poverty, unemployment and inequality are deep wounds that prevent us from reaching our full potential as a country. The legacy of our bitter past continues to manifest itself in nearly all facets of life.” And so on. Electrifying it was not.
In his speech, Mantashe actually acknowledged that people might be getting a little tired of the pro-forma speeches, and the slow progress. “We have been on this road to the promised land for a very long time. Many are weary and many may be losing hope,” he said.
The noteworthy thing about both speeches is that they were both located in small, rural towns and that in both cases Ramaphosa handed them off. (Apparently he intended to give the Freedom Day speech, but had the flu.)
Action vs words
In contrast to these pro-forma speeches, two separate legal actions have opened the way for investigations of apartheid-era crimes, both involving, as it happens, four victims. The first concerns the Cradock Four, and the case was brought, among others, by Lukhanyo Calata, whose father Fort was one of the four. Their allegation is that successive South African governments have failed to act on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations and have denied victims and their families justice.
Slightly belatedly, Ramaphosa ordered an inquiry on Wednesday to establish whether previous governments led by his party intentionally blocked investigations and prosecutions of apartheid-era crimes.
In the second case, the Joburg high court is allowing the prosecution of two former apartheid-era security officers, Christiaan Siebert Rorich and Tlhomedi Ephraim Mfalapitsa, for the 1982 killings of four student activists known as the Cosas Four. Interestingly, this is being brought as a “crimes against humanity” case to avoid the statute of limitations.
Both of these cases will be fascinating to watch from a legal perspective, but the larger point is that in both cases, the incidents involve events that happened around 40 years ago. And doesn’t that make the notion of celebrating “Freedom Day” and “Human Rights Day” for the past 30 years a little empty?
It’s all very well for the government to start an investigation now into whether the ANC intentionally blocked investigations into apartheid-era crimes. But clearly this is an attempt to head off a potential political attack rather than a genuine investigation. If it was genuine, and if the government genuinely did believe in all the sweet words dispensed on Freedom Day and Human Rights Day, wouldn’t that have happened a little earlier – say, 20 years ago?
Sign up to Currency’s weekly newsletters to receive your own bulletin of weekday news and weekend treats. Register here.
