Freedom Charter 70 years on: Land reform, wealth distribution still lagging, says ANC

JOHANNESBURG – The African National Congress (ANC) believes the democratic government has achieved the majority of ideals in the Freedom Charter, except for land reform and economic transformation.

The African National Congress (ANC) has governed the country since the turn of democracy in 1994.

On Thursday, the party is holding a commemorative event at the Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, Soweto, where the Freedom Charter was adopted during the Congress of the People 70 years ago. 

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The Freedom Charter was drawn up as a blueprint for what a democratic South Africa should look like.

A non-racial state, where everyone’s vote counts and citizens share in the country’s wealth. 

The ANC’s deputy secretary general, Nomvula Mokonyane, says it has been partly achieved.

“We have touched every clause of the Freedom Charter, boldly we can say South Africans are the beneficiaries of all the clauses, albeit not everything has been touched. The most stubborn is the clause that talks about the economy and the sharing of the wealth.”

Mokonyane says the country’s land restitution programme has not been successful, which is why the Expropriation Act was recently signed into law.