旅遊南非洲 (四): 1994年4月27日自由日 / Travel to South Africa (4): Freedom Day April 27, 1994

攝影圖片Photo #1: Under Apartheid laws 種族隔離制度統治, blacks and coloured peoples were prohibited in areas designated for whites only.


攝影圖片Photo #2: During the Apartheid era, violent confrontations were common in South Africa, especially in black townships, as shown in this painting.

攝影圖片Photo #3: This is an artist's interpretation of the military/police of the Apartheid government.

攝影圖片Photo #4: Click the photo below to read the definitions of "Whites", "Honour Whites", "Blacks" and "Coloured People" under the Apartheid laws.

攝影圖片Photo #5: An artist's painting of a native.

攝影圖片Photo #6: Nobel Square in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront features statues of South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize winners - Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela.

旅遊南非洲 (四): 自由日 / Travel to South Africa (4): Freedom Day

To commemorate South Africa's Freedom Day on April 27th, I have posted the above six photos, some of which I took when I was travelling in Cape Town.

According to Wikipedia:

"... Freedom Day is a South African public holiday celebrated on April 27. It celebrates freedom and commemorates the first post-apartheid elections held on that day in 1994. The elections were the first non-racial national elections where everyone of voting age of over 18 from any race group including non-citizens were allowed to vote, no voters roll was used. Previously, under the apartheid regime, non-whites had only limited rights to vote.

自由日是南非共和國的一個公共假日，定在每年的4月27日。自由日是為了慶祝南非1994年廢除種族隔離制度之後，人民獲得政治自由和進行了南非歷史上第一次不分種族的全民大選而設立的節日。這次大選，凡是南非年滿18歲的國民，不分種族，都具有投票權。而在此之前，在種族隔離制度統治下，南非非白種人在大選中投票只有有限的權利。..."

While it is easy to celebrate the victory of freedom over apartheid, one should not have the illusion that everything is hunky-dory in South Africa. Based on recent newspaper reports (especially those published after the murder of Eugene Terreblanche, a key figure of the far-right AWB) and my conversations with some of the locals during the trip, there are serious concerns and a deep sense of uncertainty abt the social, economic, and political future of the country.

Some Afrikaners fear that once Mr. Nelson Mandela 納爾遜•曼德拉passes away, South Africa will go the way of Zimbabwe and whites will be forced off the lands and even killed by the likes of Julius Malema (the ANC youth leader who sang an anti-apartheid song that advocated "kill the Boer" at a rally; "boer" is a farmer in Afrikaans布林語 - 南非通用的荷蘭語). Meanwhile, many blacks who are still living in shanty towns and neighbourhoods run by tsotsi (thugs) are complaining bitterly that their lives remain poor in the post-apartheid era.

South Africa is a beautiful country and it will be a shame if it goes down the drain like so many other failed states on the continent. Let's hope the peoples of South Africa will continue to work with each other across the spectrum of the rainbow for the better future of their country.

Photo Credit:
* First and last photo: Wikipedia
* Second, third, fourth and fifth photos: Lotusandcedar