On UnFreedom Day, freedom remains a distant dream

26 April 2012
Take Back the Commons Press Statement

On UnFreedom Day, freedom remains a distant dream

Action: UnFreedom Day Guerilla ‘fan walk’ through the V&A Waterfront
Start: The traffic circle in front of the Green Ppoint McDonalds
End: ‘People’s Park’ next to our white elephant Cape Town Stadium
Date/Time: 27 April 2012 (UnFreedom Day) from 10h30-14h30
Info: See our Facebook invite or contact Gizelle Rush @ 0728456142

Are we really free?

In typical ‘double-speak our government tells us to celebrate freedom on the 27th April – yet it continues to be complicit in our domination and oppression. For many South Africans, tomorrow remains UnFreedom Day, because we have not yet truly liberated ourselves .

We are unfree because the Commons (the gifts of nature and culture which should be accessible to all) have been segregated, privatised and exploited.

We are unfree because of the tens of millions of us living without land and therefore without a secure place to call home and raise a family.

We are unfree because millions of us still live in shacks without sewage, water and electricity.

We are unfree because our voices are not heard over the corporatised chatter of the media.

We are unfree because our own ‘democratic’ government is controlled by the wealthy 1% rather than by the people

We are unfree because 40% of this country is unemployed or underemployed.

We are unfree because for those of us that are employed, our labour is used for the profit of others rather than for ourselves and our communities.

We are unfree because the police arrest, torture and kill those, like Andries Tatane, who dare to stand up for the truth.

We are unfree because of the many forces that seek to control and dominate us each and every day, bossing us around, usurping our dignity and watering down our freedom of expression.

Yet even though we are unfree, we affirm our dignity, creatively expressing our anger and hope, our experience of oppressive conditions, and our agency to bring about change.

Join us as we hold the first ever UnFreedom Day Guerilla Art ‘Fan Walk’ from Cape Town Stadium to the V&A Waterfront and back. Bring your own creative expression of your alienation from this current system and your longing for a truly free society.

None of us are free until all of us are free!

Additional announcement: Some of our friends and comrades including members of the Backyarders, Anti-Eviction Campaign and Abahlali baseMjondolo will also be joining a simultaneous UnFreedom Day protest in Silvertown Informal Settlement headed by the Makhaza Wetlands Forum from Khayelitsha. They will be protesting against the continued deployment of the bucket system in their community in the morning of the 27th. You can contact Tobela (0739120740) for more information.